There are some verbs in English that people (understandably) can find confusing, and I think near the top of that list is lie/lay.
So let’s outline the problem. We have one verb that is intransitive (i.e. it does not take a direct object)—that would be “lie.” So: “Today I lie down; yesterday I lay down.”
Then we have “lay,” which is transitive. In other words, it can take an object. So we say, “Today, I lay the book down; yesterday I laid the book down.”
What’s so confusing about these two verbs is that the past tense of one (lie/lay) is the present tense of the other (lay/laid). How did that happen?
Well, that happened because these two verbs are actually historically related to each other. If we go all the way back to Old English (the English of “Beowulf”), we find that there are two general classes of verbs, both of which in Old English were “regular” verbs. There’s one class of verbs that forms the past tense by changing the internal vowel. So: ring/rang, swim/swam, lie/lay. And we still have some of those in English, although we now think of them as irregular: there are so few of these verbs left that we can no longer see the systematic pattern for how they make the past tense. (A good number of these verbs died, and others became regular verbs: for example, the past tense of help used to be holp but now is helped.)
The other kind of verb in Old English takes a “d” sound, what we now often think of as “-ed,” to form the past tense. So: talk/talked and lay/laid.
In Old English, there are some intransitive verbs, like lie, that have related “-ed” verbs that can be used transitively (or causatively). To lay something down is to cause it to lie down. This is why the past tense lay (intransitive) looks identical to the base for the transitive verb lay (whose past tense is then laid).
When in doubt, just remember that if there’s an object, it will be lay/laid. And if there’s no object, and you just want to take a nap, it’s lie/lay. (But if you lay yourself down to sleep, it is lay, not lie, because there is an object there: yourself. There’s always a twist!)
What about you? Do you get confused by the lie/lay quandary? What other word confusions do you find interesting, funny or annoying? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
This video originally appeared in LSA Today.
Armin Tober - 1961, 1962
Another one (how do YOU say it?): Everybody…his/their. \”Everybody laid his book down\” or \”Everybody laid their book down.\” What is correct in a formal presentation, newspaper (style), or casual conversation? Please comment. Thank you.
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Gordon Walker - 1987
OK, so which is the imperative? Do I tell my dog to “lie down” or to “lay down?”
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Anita Goldstein - retired staff 2007
What about FLY, FLYS, and FLIES? There’s a travel ad on TV that says “your companion FLIES free?” Doesn’t sound too appetizing!
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Richard Kelly - 1961
This is interesting. I’ve always wondered where some of these words came from. Now can you tell me why all of a sudden people are using woken up instead of awakened?
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George Porretta - 1950, 1954
Thank you, Anne, for that concise but clear explanantion. My golfing buddies invariably ask, “What do you lay?” Rather than pedantically correcting them directly I say, “I LIE three”. But, alas, they still don’t seem to get it and will still use the same phrase.
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Steve Gunning - 1966
It\’s unfortunate that a publication of a major university (or any educational unit beyond 5th grade, for that matter)finds it necessary to give instruction on the lie/lay problem; but given tbe rampant misuse, I suppose it\’s inevitable. Now, if we can do something about the use of \”I\” in the objective case (…gave it to Tom and I)and the on-going abandonment of the past participal (\”have went\”–yes, it\’s out there and growing) we might keep our admittedly evolving tongue from turning over 20% in my life time. Harrumph!
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Dave Hazlett - 1975
I am an engineering grad. Hated the \”study\” of English. Later learned that I was intuitive (on the Myers Briggs scale) and that it took much energy for me to bother with the minutia of the “rote†process. Ah, but I am now a lawyer. I have learned (more proper) English through constant immersion in the written and spoken word (and by paying attention). Is it OK that I don’t know the significance of \”intransitive\”, and still get some things wrong (including spelling)?
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Michael Malley - 1967
Dear Professor Curzan:
You forgot to include in your discussion the verb which is used to describe the process by which chickens produce eggs. Sorry, there is one in every crowd. MPM
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Alan Headbloom - 1980
Anne, this is great! I’ll forward it to all my physical therapists (PTs) who tell me to “lay down” on the massage table.
Related to Michael’s comment above, I’ve occasionally asked (in response to the “lay” command) if the PT needed more eggs. (We English majors can get downright snarky/pedantic, eh?)
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pat cardiff - 1990
It’s just not in my vocabulary!
I don’t use the words. Mentally I could never hear myself saying “yesterday I lay down” (did I say it right?). I would just substitute “yesterday I got in bed.” I think such constructions prefer the female gender. Yet females use more words. Does that mean, with awareness/instruction, those verbs may yet be saved?
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Jay Sappington - 1978
My family used to discuss this around the dinner table when I was growing up. It confused me then. It made perfect sense to me when, recently and for reasons unknown to me, I consciously thought about it again. Nevertheless, I learned quite a bit from your article.
Last week, working with an international student, I pointed out that we always pronounce “said” with a short “e” vowel sound rather than the more logical long “a,” but I couldn’t explain why. Can you offer any help with this one? Is say/said related to the lay/laid conjugation group? If so, why do we not, then, pronounce “laid” “led”?
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Steve Treweek - 1980
Please join my personal crusade to eliminate the use of \”lead\” instead of \”led\” as the past tense of \”to lead\”. I see it in the blogospere all too often. I can understand its use, given that the past tense of \”read\” (\’reed\’) is \”read\” (\’red\’). It should be obvious to those of my generation who grew up listening to Led Zeppelin (i.e., a zeppelin that is led).
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Richard Helzberg - BA, '62; JD, '65
What a delight to have it laid out so clearly for the first time ever!
Felt obligated to forward to my wife Carol as it is about the only gramatical error I consistently call her on to tease and annoy, but decency, chivalry, and avoiding doing something really stupid impeled me to do just that…
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Gary Marsh - L.S.A. 1969
My current peeve is the misuse of the reflexive pronoun. (President Obama did it
today in his welcoming speech to the President of South Korea. ie. Mrs. Obama and myself welcome you to the U.S.)
I often hear this mis-use.
Bob and myself went fishing yesterday.
When you are done with the lawnmower return it to myself.
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Lisa Barclay - 1953, 1954
A famous writer, whose name I have unfortunately forgotten, came to my high school (Hunter College High Schol in New York City) and taught us the following limerick, which I have found very valuable in deciding which to use:
Lie and Lay offer slips to the pen
That have bothered most excellent men.
You may say that you lay
In bed yesterday;
If you do it today, you’re a hen!ttyperm
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Alex Inman - 2007
Great post! I always look forward to these gems. Good timing too – just a few days ago I had this debate. Brad, if you’re reading this, it looks like we are both write 😉
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Mark gscoigne - 1966
At last! The lie/lay controversy has finally been laid to rest and that’s no lie.
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Stuart Friedman - Law 1969
I concur that it is shameful that this point should have to be explained in a University setting. It should have been settled by third-grade.
My own bugbear is exemplified by the line: “He is one of those people who was in the parade.” (It should be “who were”, since the subordinate clause “who were in the parade” clearly modifies “people”, not “one”. I tried explaining that to a retired English teacher once, even going so far as to diagram the sentence–and she still refused to believe me. So much for my powers of persuasion.
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Leah Goodman - 2002
What about a post on affect/effect? The difference has always seemed so clear to me, but often people mix up the two. Or perhaps a piece on pronunciation would be interesting- laughter and daughter and so on, or the Winston Churchill ‘GHOTI is pronounced fish’ story, in case people don’t know that story.
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Kristina Van Voorhis - Fayyad - 1985, 1988
I agree that the objective use of \”I\” is a big problem. On TV,
in movies and on the radio, it\’s as though \”me\” just can\’t be spoken.
I\’ve stopped correcting teachers, but I educate my kids on this whenever
I can. That is also a subject from 6th Grade English at the latest as I
remember.
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john Woodford
Please send this column to every TV and radio station, and every newspaper and magazine staff, and also to all Hollywood scriptwriters. It would relieve much tsouris!!
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Laura Johnson - 1982
Gordon, the imperative is the same as the present tense for both words. So you should tell your dog, “Lie down.” However, if your dog has a weapon, the correct command is “Lay down your arms.”
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susan campbell - '54
A commonly heard English faux pas is the misuse of the word “unique” Something may be unique. It cannot be “somewhat, very or quite unique.” Is grammar taught at all in our public schools? Sometimes I wonder.
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Sandra Corr - 1983
I have always known this having grown up with two English teachers as parents and then becoming one myself; however, I find that nobody cares anymore, especially in a world in which children are growing up texting words such and gonna and wanna and u. In a high school English class I find those words typed on final drafts!!!! And when I was explaining to the class that colloquial language should not be written in formal essays, a hand shot up, “What is the word for ‘gonna’ then?” Seriously, lie vs. lay in this culture? In my dreams (and in my dream last night I flew); so there you have it.
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