Is it lay or lie? This question plagues a lot of people, including nearly every author I’ve ever known (we’re talking hundreds here), and most editors, too. It surprised me to find out that most editors struggle with this because editors are supposed to have excellent grammar skills.
One reason “Is it lay or lie” is a challenge to so many people is because there’s some overlap in the conjugation, which we’ll get to in a minute.
Another is that teachers so often teach it incorrectly. Even if all your teachers taught it to you correctly (which would be a miracle since there is so much confusion surrounding it), and even if you’ve looked it up a dozen times, you might not know for sure. I hope this helps.
Using lay or lie
Lay is a transitive verb. That just means that it has to have an object—the verb indicates that someone is doing something to something. In this case, it is placing someone or something on a surface.
Present tense: Lay the package on my desk, please.
Past tense: I laid the mail on my desk yesterday.
Future: Will you lay the mail on the desk, too?
Present participle: I was laying it there.
Past participle: We have laid too many things on the desk.
Lie is an intransitive verb, and while it has some definitions that aren’t often confused with lay, there is one. It works like this:
Present tense: If you lie down with dogs, you rise up with fleas is a saying meaning actions have consequences.
Past tense: He lay near three puppies yesterday for snuggles.
Future: I will lie by a pup any chance I get.
Present participle: I’ve been lying down near doggos for 45 years.
Past participle: I have lain near canines for a long time.
There is some overlap, which certainly adds to the confusion. The part that is particularly troublesome for most people is the fact that the past tense of lie is the same as present and future tense of lay.
Then there’s the rhyme that begins, “Now I lay me down to sleep.” Because the speaker is placing himself down on a surface, it’s lay here.
I hope this helps to clear up the confusion on regarding when to use lay or lie. If something is being done to someone or something, it’s lay. Otherwise, it’s lie. The only good time to lie is when it’s something we do with our body and not our words.
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