Ok, so Microsoft Word constantly gives me a hassle as far as lying, or laying. Also, laid and lied down. Which one is it? For example, if I say "so and so was ____ on the bed". Is that supposed to be laying or lying? And then, if I say "he ____ down and went to sleep". Laid or lied? Microsoft Word always recommends the one that doesn't sound right to me. Someone help!
First example would be "lying" and the second would be "lay." There's a pretty good breakdown of lay vs. lie here: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/lay-versus-lie.aspx
These two (no, three) verbs are something I always struggle with myself, especially when putting them in the right tense. Lie, Lie and Lay has been my no.1 issue since school days )
"lay" is a change of state, "lie" is continuing in a state. "so and so was ____ on the bed" is continuing in a state, so you need a form of lie -- lying. "he ____ down and went to sleep" is a change of state, so you need a form of lay -- laid.
"lay" is a change of state, "lie" is continuing in a state. "so and so was ____ on the bed" is continuing in a state, so you need a form of lie -- lying. "he ____ down and went to sleep" is a change of state, so you need a form of lay -- laid.
It's the difference between taking an object and not taking one. Lie = intransitive = takes no object = lie, lay, lain Lay = transitive = takes an object = lay, laid, laid My number one issue's been figuring out women.
thanks for thread and answers. I have been on this since highschool myself. It never was quite explained, i was just told put this here. p.s. on women- listen to them,
That should be "lay," the simple past tense of lie, considering the sentence. A form of "lay," not "lie," requires an object (e.g., "He has laid the book down and gone to sleep" or "He lays the book down and goes to sleep" or "He laid the book down and went to sleep" or "He lies down and goes to sleep" or "He has lain down and gone to sleep" or "He lay down and went to sleep").
you lie in bed at night and may lie to someone you're laying last night you lay in bed and may have lied to someone who was lying beside you you had lain in bed this morning, while lying to someone you wanted to lay when you lay your bathrobe on the bed, it lies there you laid it there last night, before you got laid it's still lying there, if you haven't picked it up does that clear up all the lie/lay confusion, kids?
Raki has it correct. I used to have issues with lie and lay. I can't recall what finally cleared it up for me. Just memorise that you lie down, but you lay down a book. After you get that down, that is, you never say, "I'm going to lay down," then memorise the past tense. I lay down. I laid down the book. Then move onto the other tenses. You'll eventually get it.
