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From the Desk of the (former) copy editor of "The Californian" II

Lay versus Lie
as best as I can

courtesy of Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

qdnow.com

 

 

Exclude the definition

to exclude the truth

 

"lay" requires a direct object

and "lie" does not.

 

pnemuonic:

"lay it on me"

 

"it" being the direct object.

 

 

so

You lie down

but

you lay the pencil on the table.

 

 

HOWEVER, THIS IS ONLY THE PRESENT TENSE

 

in the past tense, everything gets messed up,

because "lay" is also the past tense of "lie"

 

so

The cat lay in the mud yesterday.

and

I laid the pencil on the desk.

 

 

This is hard to memorize, and even experts have trouble memorizing these.

To help you remember, I am incluing a table.

 

 

 

 Present TensePast Tense
 Lie Lay
 Lay* Laid

* -- an object is required.

 

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Comments


  • trista gold member
    December 1, 2007
    Edit | Reply
    I don't know why I've always had such a hard time remembering this, but I thank you for the quickie lesson, and the chart is great. I'll be bookmarking this one for sure.

    Thanks so much!
    ~J.

    • Perdu
      December 1, 2007
      Edit | Reply
      I think we have so much trouble with it because of the switch in the past tense, and the fact that we use both tenses so much, and this is such a common verb. I sometimes think that English is so difficult with tenses, comparered to German.
      and you're very welcome

  • HeavenScent4U
    November 30, 2007
    Edit | Reply
    i knew that lol

    • Perdu
      November 30, 2007
      Edit | Reply
      yes... yes... we all knew that, then magically forgot it

      I posted a column earlier today about "thou, thy, and thee" and somebody who commented on it asked if I had a column explaining this