English is stupid. Lay and lie provide proof that English is the dumbest language on planet Earth (perhaps even in the entire universe, if indeed languages exist beyond our puny little rock). But I love English, so I must try to conquer the distinction. Let's do it together.
When you're writing in the present or future tense, lay is a transitive verb. This means that it needs to have a direct object. Here are some examples:
· I'm going to lay your suitcase on the bed.
· Will you please lay my phone on the table?
Lie is intransitive, meaning that it doesn't need a direct object.
· I'm getting faint. I need to lie down.
· The cat always lies down in front of the fireplace.
Things get a little trickier when you're writing in the past tense. The past tense of lie, the intransitive verb, is lay. Therefore:
· Yesterday after softball practice, I lay down to take a nap.
· After dinner, the cat lay down in front of the fireplace.
But what about laid? It is the past tense of lay, the transitive verb.
· After I finished my homework, I laid my pencil down on the desk.
· I laid my groceries on the kitchen table.
Yeah, this is super confusing. Most of the time, I avoid using these words altogether (or I just get it wrong and feel my inner English nerd groaning in pain).
Do you have any tricks you use to remember thedifferences between these words?
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