English Grammar Lesson: Lay Vs. Lie

I know what you're thinking. It's a grammar article. I can already see your eyes glazing over, as you revert to your comatose state reserved only for the most painfully dull lectures, car rides, and days at work. Don't worry; I'm not a Grammar Nazi. If you make these mistakes aloud I will forgive you, but for Shakespeare's sake, you had better get them right on paper!

In order to understand the grammar of "lay" and "lie" you need to understand the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs. No, you don't need to remember those words, and no there will not be a pop quiz sometime next week. But it's important, so pay attention. A transitive verb is something you do to something else. An intransitive verb does not act on anything else. To put it another way, if something receives the action, then the verb is transitive; if there is no recipient, then it is intransitive.

He killed him. (transitive)
He jumped with joy. (intransitive)

"Lay" is a transitive verb, meaning, "to place something down". "Lie" is an intransitive verb, meaning "to recline" or "be placed". So when the policemen show up to apprehend our murderer from the last example, they would shout:

"Lay the gun on the ground!"

Here, the gun is the recipient of the action "lay" The next thing out of the policeman's mouth might be something like:

"Lie on the ground!"

Here the murderer is the only one receiving the action. In the previous example, though the murderer committed the act, the gun ended up on the ground. However in this case the murderer is both the giver and recipient of the action, and therefore the verb is transitive.

Okay, are you still awake? Good. See? This isn't that hard. You can do this. I believe in you. Now lie your ice cream on the table, lay back in your chair, and pay attention.

Now we venture into the murky world of tenses. This alone can take years to fully master, so we are only going to cover the confusing bits. We will start with past tense, which means the form the verb must be in if the action occurred in the past.

He kills him. (present tense)
He killed him. (past tense)

The past tense of lay (the one with a recipient, remember?) is laid. The past tense of "lie" is "lay" And that is where the confusion lies. The past tense for one verb is the same as the present for another. Isn't English fun? Let's go back to the adventures of our murderer. By now he has been apprehended, and the newspaper is doing a story on him. They are describing his arrest, so because it already happened, they use the past tense.

He laid the gun on the ground.

This is the past tense of "lay", which is used because the gun is receiving the action.

He lay on the ground.

Here, "lay" is used as the past tense of "lie". You can tell by the fact that there is no recipient of the action other than the one doing it.

Are you still alive? Good. See? This doesn't need to be painful. One more rule and then we'll be done.

The past participle of "lie" is "lain". The past participle of "lay" is "laid" Exactly what constitutes a past participle is beyond the scope of this lesson. However, there is an easy way to identify it when used wit these verbs. If it is preceded by any form of the verb "to have" (have, had, or has) then it is a past participle.

He could have lain on a beach in Hawaii if he hadn't been caught.

Here, the past participle of "lie" is used because there is no recipient of the action.

If only he wouldn't have laid that gun down.

Here we have the past participle of "lay", used because the gun received the action.

And that's it. That's all you need to know. Now, do you remember when I said there wouldn't be a pop quiz? Well, I lied. Somewhere in this article, I purposefully used "lay" and "lie" incorrectly. If you found these errors the first time you read them, congratulations. If not try to find them now. If you can't find them, read this article again. Grammar is a tricky business, and takes practice to learn. Don't be discouraged; I know you can do it.