Let It Lie

Lay is a transitive verb, which means that it takes a direct object. Which means that you lay something [down]:

Let's have our guests lay their coats on our cat-hair–covered bed.
Don't even think of laying those wet finger-paintings on the rug!

The past tense of lay is laid, as is the past participle:

I laid out all the bread for sandwiches, not realizing the counter was wet.
In our old condo, someone had laid the carpeting down on top of a pair of pliers, which we stepped on fifty times a day.

Lie is an intransitive verb, which means that it doesn't take a direct object. Which means that you just lie there, you don't lie something:

I think I'll lie down until the kids stop bickering.
Why is there a popsicle lying on the floor?

Here comes the tricky part. The past tense of lie is lay:

I lay awake in bed for over an hour last night.
In my teens I covered myself with baby oil and lay out in the sun with a reflector every day.

I know it doesn't sound right, but it is. Trust me.

For anyone still awake, here comes the last bit. The past participle of lie is lain:

He had lain all night in pee-soaked sheets.

Horrible, isn't it?

Comments

[Leigh]

oh, oh, pick me! pick me!

will you do "die / dye" next please?

[Goldberry]

Glad somebody set me straight. I am always curious about the uses words. I have always been curious about the uses of further and farther.

[susan]

Chickens lay [eggs], people lie. That is how I was told to remember it :). But I do have trouble with lay vs laid. I understand it, it just sounds funny and I have been guilty of using the wrong word. "Lain" is just one of those funny words. Like "whom". People laugh when I use them.

[ricky]

Man, that's English. Don't get me wrong, I was an English major in college. But get rid of it, already!

We're Americans. I'm not advocating stripping the language down to the 40 or so words that are adequate to conduct your average talk show or the MTV music awards, but still...

We don't drive lorries. Our cookies are not biscuits. And our fannies are our butts.

We haven't been speaking English for a long time.

Can we please get rid of the rest of the silly Englishisms???

We are well overdue to establish the American language.