Ok, you grammer buffs. When using the verb “to lay”, what form is correct when? For example: “I laid in my bed,” or “I lied in my bed.”? Or, is it more-highly dependent upon verb tense than other verbs? For example:
“I would have lied in bed all day,” or “I would have laid in bed all day.”?
Even more puzzling, might it depend on if the object is inanimate?
“I laid the keys on the table, and I lied down for a nap.” ???
And last, does the present tense ever appear as a past tense usage? For example: “We walked along the trail to find him, and there he lay/lied/laid with an arrow in his leg.”
Help! :eek: Perhaps, you can give me proper examples!
“Lay” as a Regular Verb
“Lay” has the same parts as other regular verbs–only it uses the spelling “laid” and not “layed” for the past tense:
Present: Now I lay the book on the table.
Past: I laid the book on the table yesterday.
Present Participle: While I was laying the book on the table, the phone rang.
Past Participle: After I had laid the book on the table, it fell off.
“Lie” as an Irregular Verb
“To lie” (meaning to rest or repose) is an irregular verb. Its past tense and past participle are irregular:
Present Past Present Participle Past Participle
lie lay lying lain
Note: A different verb, “to lie,” meaning “to tell a lie,” is regular: lie, lied, lying, lied. Examples: I (tell a) lie. He lied. We were lying. They had lied.
The simplistic rule I learned in elementary school is that you lie down for a nap and lay the blanket on top of you. IOW, people lie down and stuff is laid down.
That’s not the distinction. (I remember arguing with my teacher about this in 6th grade.)
Usram is correct. There are two (or maybe three) different verbs being confused here, one transitive and one intransitive.
to lay (past tense: laid; past participle: have laid) is transitive: it takes a direct object. If you’re doing it to something (or someone) else, you’re laying them. He laid the keys on the table. Now I lay me down to sleep.
to lie (past tense: lay; past participle: have lain) is intransitive: it does not take a direct object. The book lay on the table. I would have lain in bed all day.
Then there’s to lie (past tense: lied; past participle: have lied), meaning to tell a falsehood. This is also intransitive.
I don’t think that complicates matters very much, although the usage is slightly different. We often hear of “getting laid” but how often do you hear of “laying someone”?
The problem is that you’re using the wrong verb to begin with. You’re asking about usage of the verb “to lay,” when you should be asking about “to lie.”
And lie vs. lay has nothing to do with people vs. objects:
John is lying on the bed.
The book is lying on the shelf.
I am laying John on the bed.
I am laying the book on the shelf.
If you are laying in your bed all day and are male, you must have incredible stamina!
What you have here is a farrago of related verbs with non-interchangeable parts and meanings.
“To lie” meaning “to tell an untruth, to prevaricate” is a quasi-regular verb. “You lie! You are lying today, you lied yesterday, you have lied ever since I’ve known you! Now, for once, tell me the truth!”
“To lie” meaning “to recline” is irregular, and lay is its past tense. “I lie in bed today, just as I lay in bed yesterday. In fact, I have been lying in bed all week. I will have lain in bed seven days come Tuesday morning.”
Neither meaning of “lie” takes a direct object.
“To lay” normally means “to place, to put down in a given place.” It will nearly always be transitive, with a direct object. “I lay these books on the table, just as I laid them there yesterday. I am always laying them there; in fact, I think I’ve laid them there every day.”
One minor peculiarity is that “to lie” in the recline sense is paralleled by an idiom using “to lay”: “And for bonnie Annie Laurie, I’d lay me doon and die.” “To lie down” is often rendered by the reflexive “to lay oneself down” – which can get complex when you’re trying to distinguish between lie and lay.
“To lay” is sometimes slangily used for “to have sex with” – with numerous idiomatic forms. E.g., “to lay” someone is often to take the active role; the person in the passive role is said to get laid. However, this coexists with a usage in which “to get laid” means to successfully find and bed a sex partner, normally (in my experience) used by males referencing the active role.
Loose ends: There are three noun meanings for “lay” – (1) free-form narrative poem, generally on love and/or courtship; (2) topography: “the lay of the land” is the proper use, and more or less means how the land is laid out. It is incorrect pedantry to insist on “the lie of the land” – the unspoken presupposition is that the land does not lie (taking an active role) but rather is laid out (whether by God, natural forces, or human intervention is not implied); (3) a girl or woman who is a desirable or easily-seduced sex partner is slangily (and mildly insultingly) referred to as “a (good/easy/whatever) lay.”
As between the two verbs, “lie” is accurate for describing an object’s location, or for describing the act of a person or animal, or personified thing, in assuming a recumbent position. The subject does the lying. “Lay” is a verb in which something acts upon something else, placing it somewhere." The direct object of the “lay” sentence lies somewhere because the sjubect laid it there: “I laid the book on the counter, but it only lay there ten minutes before somebody knocked it onto the floor.” (Notice the past tenses of lay-> laid and lie -> lay.)
IME, approximately 97.4% of the population use “lie” in its present and participial forms when they are speaking about telling lies, and “lay” about people or things reclining or resting, regardless of the transitive or intransitive nature of the case.
IOW, they say, “I’m going to lay down now,” or “He’s been laying there all day.” The transitive/intransitive distinction is almost never observed in ordinary speech.
Now, I’m one of the world’s leading grammar dictators. Don’t try splitting infinitives around me. You’ll be sorry you tried. But this is one case in which I feel that it’s not worth fighting for the “rule.” On the contrary, the lie=deception/lay=resting distinction is clear and easy, the reason for the rule is sufficiently obscure, and the opportunity for misunderstanding is relatively low.
So I say, if you want to lay down, go ahead and do it. I’m not going to stop you.
Well, at least not in English class!
