She felt comfort laying on his lap. MS word keeps correcting the underlined word with lying (lie). Should I re-write the sentence ...as she lay on his lap. Is laying not appropriate? What am I missing?
I *think* it's like I want to lay down or she needs to lie down. I think it's because you're using she? I could be completely wrong though. I'm not the best with that.
Ok, that sounds like it might be right. Sometimes I hate being from the South, we have so many phrases and words that are not grammatically correct. 9 times out of ten, I hear people from my area say laying. Hardly ever hear lying (unless the subject is about lies).
I know! I spent part of my childhood in Tennessee and my dad still lives there, it really is confusing
I learned it like this: "Lay" means to put/place something. It takes an object. E.g. "I lay the book on the table." The past tense of "lay" is "laid." "Lie" does not take an object and is used in the sense of lying down (yourself). E.g. "I am going to lie down" or "The cat was lying on the chair." The past tense of "lie" is "lay." So, "She felt comfort lying on his lap" would be correct.
Actually, the definition of the word "lay" means to "put" as in, "You lay down the book." You cannot by definition lay yourself down on the bed. In this case, you lie down on the bed. So Word is correct in that the sentence should read, "She felt comfortable lying in his lap." You could also say, "When she lay her head in his lap, she felt comfortable." Don't worry though, I also had this problem and needed it drilled into my brain before I got it.
Thank you At least I still gave her the right answer, even if I was wrong about why...LOL Now maybe I'll be able to remember too
I agree except that the sentence "When she lay her head in his lap" should read "laid" if it's in past tense, or "lays" if it's in present. The confusing thing is that the past tense of "lie" is the same as the present tense of "lay."
I always remember it as process (to lay) versus result (to lie), or movement versus position for that matter. Same as "into" versus "in". You go into the house (movement) versus "I am in the house" (position). [Note: other examples follow the same rule]
...ok, if 'she' is a brood hen!... ...because that's the correct verb, if 'she' is not a brood hen... ...yes... and no, it's not, unless she's laying eggs... 'She felt comfortable lying on his lap' is the correct wording, if 'she' is anything else and is just reclining there...
LOL, Nope she is not a hen! Lying it is then! I can't use reclining because of the position she is in. Lying will have to do! Edit: I also can't use comfortable, because she is not comfortable, but she feels a sense of comfort. I'll re-word it to make that more clear.
