Lie
The verb ‘to lie’ can mean ‘to tell a falsehood’. For the purposes of this comparison of ‘lie’ and ‘lay’, this meaning of the verb will not be discussed here.
‘To lie’ can also mean ‘to recline’, ‘to lounge’, or ‘to be recumbent’. It would be used like this:
‘She lies on her yoga mat after her morning workout’.
Table of tenses for the verb ‘to lie’:
Present: ‘She lies on the bed’
Present participle: ‘She is lying on the bed’
Past: ‘She lay on the bed’
Past participle: ‘She had lain on the bed’
Lay
The verb ‘to lay’ means ‘to place, position or put down’. It must take a direct object, i.e. one always lays something down. For example,
‘I lay my house keys on the side table’.
Table of tenses for the verb ‘to lay’:
Present: ‘She lays her keys on the table’
Present participle: ‘She is laying her keys on the table’
Past: ‘She laid her keys on the table’
Past participle: ‘She had laid her keys on the table’
To Remember:
One important thing to remember is that ‘to lay’, in the present tense, does not mean to lie down, but rather to place something down. Thus, Bob Dylan was grammatically incorrect when he sang ‘Lay Lady Lay’, as this prompts the question of what exactly he wanted the lady to lay, or place, on the bed? Don’t forget that ‘to lay’ always takes an object. As he was issuing a present tense command, what Dylan really meant to say was ‘Lie Lady Lie’.
If, however, he had been speaking in the past tense, it would be correct to say ‘yesterday, she lay on the bed’, as ‘lay’ is the past tense of the verb ‘to lie’ (see table above).
As we have seen, the word ‘lay’ is both the past participle of the verb ‘to lie’, meaning to recline, and the present participle of the verb ‘to lay’, meaning to place or put something down. Therefore, both of the sentences:
1) ‘I lay down on the sofa’ (past tense of the verb ‘to lie’)
2) ‘I lay my head on the pillow’ (present tense of the verb ‘to lay’)
are correct. The first is in the past tense and the second is in the present. Note that we can distinguish which derives from the verb ‘to lay’ as it takes an object, in this case ‘my head’.
If we were to change sentence number two from the present to the past tense it would be written, ‘I laid my head on the pillow’, as the past participle of the verb ‘to lay’ is ‘laid’.
Distinguishing between these two verbs can be tricky and requires some considerable thought about meaning, tenses and direct objects. If you are ever confused, consult the tense tables above for guidance.
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