''Lay, Lie, Laid And Lain' (Learn Their Difference)

In the course of telling these verbs apart, we should know that they have one thing in common; they all begin with the letter 'L'. Perhaps that is why they confuse the bejeezus out of many people; some newspaper editors inclusive!

But for fellow writers and those who are curious to know when to use each of these verbs, here is a simple breakdown that will help you determine when to use each one and when to use their past-tense equivalents.

LAY

First and foremost, we should know that 'Lay' and 'Lie' are both present-tense verbs, but they don't mean the same thing, not entirely anyway.

'Lay' means to put or set something down; therefore if the subject is acting on an object, the correct verb to use is 'lay'. For example, I lay down the book. You, the subject, set down 'the book' (the object). [If you have problems differentiating between a Subject and an Object, you are free to send me a private mail.

LIE

'Lie' is simply defined as 'to be, to stay or to assume rest in a horizontal position', so the subject is the one performing the action (that is, doing the lying). For example, I lie down to sleep or Each time I pick up a copy of my favourite novel, I lie down to take in all its great entertainment. You will notice that, here, the subject is not acting on an object, unlike in the case of 'Lay'.

I Lie Down To Sleep/I Lay Me Down To Sleep
(Why the Difference in Verbs Usage?)

Truly, this can be quite confusing. Some people may ask the question: 'Why is "Lay" in the second expression when the presence of an Object doesn't appear to be there?'. Others may dispute the correctness of the second expression by arguing that it ought to have been 'I Lay Myself Down to Sleep'. The answer to that is that since the action verb “lay” requires a direct object, the pronoun “me” is used because it is the objective case. “Myself” is the reflexive case.

Actually, both instances (I lie down to sleep/I lay me down to sleep) are grammatically correct. Here is an explanation:

In the expression I lie down to sleep, there is no object to the sentence, just the subject (I). However, in I lay me down to sleep, there is a subject (I) and an object (me), even though the subject and object are one and the same, the object is still present in the sentence, so 'Lay' should be used.

I agree with those who would argue that the expression 'I lay me down to sleep' is not commonly used in everyday English, but we can't deny the fact that it exists.

Laid, Lay and Lain (The Difference)

In this usage, none of the verbs above is a present-tense word. Now this part can appear confusing if we don't concentrate on the explanation. The past tense of 'lay' is 'laid' (Last night, I laid down on my bed to have a quick nap). But the past tense of 'lie' is 'lay' (Last night, I lay down to have a short nap), observe the absence of a verb in the second bracket.

'Laid', however, is also the past participle form of 'lay'. Note: In most cases, the auxiliary verbs (has, have, had) precede past participle verbs. So, when helping verbs (like the auxiliary) are involved, 'lay' becomes 'laid' and 'lie' becomes 'lain'. For example:

Before last night, I had laid down on my bed to have a quick nap.

Before last night, I had lain down to have a quick nap.

It is important to never forget that 'lay' and 'laid' both mean to set something down, while 'lie', 'lay' and 'lain' all mean the subject is setting itself down.

Now I lay my explanations to rest.

The following expressions are grammatically wrong!

My cats lay down to sleep every evening.

The fates of the world lie on the shoulders of every human.

The hen has lain an egg.

Just last week, the instructor lay down the rules guiding physical fitness.



Writer: Larry Sun
(larrysun4real@yahoo.com)