Certain sets of words in the English language tend to confuse people. I have found the following to be among them:
LAY / LIE
We are dealing with two different verbs here that share some relationship in meaning. The verb to lie—and we are not talking about telling an untruth here—is intransitive and therefore takes no object. You cannot lie anything, but you can lie on the sofa. The verb to lay is transitive and therefore takes an object. You may lay your body down on the sofa or you may lie down on the sofa, but you yourself cannot simply lay down on anything, never mind the sofa.
INCORRECT: Lay down.
CORRECT: Lie down.
ALSO CORRECT:
Chickens lay eggs.
Please lay the silverware on the table.
Please lie on the bed, not the sofa.
I think I shall go lie down and take a nap.
Lie down and lay your head on the pillow.
The principal parts — present, past, and past participle — of these two verbs are as follows:
LIE, LAY, LAIN
Present Tense: I lie in the hammock whenever I like.
Past Tense: I lay in the hammock yesterday.
Present Perfect Tense: I have lain in the hammock every afternoon this week.
LAY, LAID, LAID
Present Tense: Our hens lay eggs every day.
Past Tense: Our most productive hen laid six eggs yesterday.
Present Perfect Tense: She has laid at least five eggs a day for the past month.
To further confuse the matter, the verb to lie, meaning to tell a falsehood, takes the following verb forms:
LIE, LIED, LIED
The nurse said, “I hope you have not lied about your allergic reactions to medications on the medical history report you just laid on my desk because once you have lain on the examination table, the doctor is going to lay a bandage over that wound and prescribe something for your pain, but rest assured: she will not lie to you about the prognosis for your recovery.”
Okay, that’s a horrendous sentence, but you get the idea.
If you have trouble keeping these verbs straight, you are not alone. The use of lay to mean lie (as in “lay/lie down”) is the second most common word usage error I’ve noticed in the books I’ve read in recent years.
How much simpler a police detective’s life would be if all his suspects would follow this simple instruction:
“Whenever you’re going to lie to me, lie down first so I’ll know.”
© 2023 Ann Henry. All Rights Reserved.