A note for English learners (5): lie and lay
By John Welford
@indexer (4852)
Leicester, England
November 9, 2018 9:40am CST
How often have you heard someone say “I’m going to lay down for a rest”, when they should really have said “lie down”?
The confusion arises because lay can mean either the past tense of lie, or be the transitive verb equivalent of the intransitive verb lie.
Thus: “I will lie here until dinner time”, but “I lay on the bed for an hour after lunch”.
A transitive verb always takes an object, whereas an intransitive verb does not, so that you have to lay something – you can lay the table, or a hen can lay an egg!
An easy way to remember this is: “Lay down the law and lie on the floor”!
6 people like this
3 responses
@MALUSE (69416)
• Germany
9 Nov 18
If you think that this post of yours will impress anyone, think again. I wrote a post on the topic in July - with no positive consequences! :-((
Please correct the title. This is not only a problem for learners of English but also very much a problem for native speakers. Nearly every day I find such blunders in posts written by Brits, Americans, Aussies and others who should know better. It's a shame that they don't.
And also nearly every day I find posts by foreigners who hope to improve their English by being active on this site. "Poor blighters" is what comes to mind.
After teaching English to German pupils for 40 years I can tell you that it is possible to learn what the two verbs ‘lie, lay, lain’ and ‘lay, laid, laid’ mean...
1 person likes this
@Fleura (29097)
• United Kingdom
9 Nov 18
This is a mistake that native speakers often make. In fact it has become so commonplace that it will soon become normal usage. I often see it in newspapers for example - 'she was laid on the bed when he came in' - who had laid her there?? It makes me cross too! In a similar way to 'she was sat on her seat' rather than 'she was sitting...'
@Fleura (29097)
• United Kingdom
10 Nov 18
@NormanDarlo You shouldn't, but you would have to wonder who had laid her in the bed.
1 person likes this
@NormanDarlo (1071)
• Ireland
10 Nov 18
I have to wonder what newspapers you read, Fleur! Regarding the last example, it would not be incorrect to write, "She was seated on the chair..." (seated, not sat, is the correct past participle of sit) without wondering who had seated her, so why should we have to wonder who had lain (again, not laid) her on the bed?
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