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Subject:Re: Lay vs. lie From:"Donald J. Plummer" <donp -at- BGNET -dot- BGSU -dot- EDU> Date:Tue, 23 Sep 1997 14:31:38 -0400
> Beth Kane wondered about <<the rule for remembering which
> to use [lay vs. lie] but I can't seem to remember it!>>
>
> To which Buck Buchanan replied <<Here's an easy way to
> remember them: Lie is what Bush did about Iran-Contra
> Lay is what Clinton did/does.>>
>
> <big grin> Point taken, Buck, but not very helpful. Here's
> the less amusing summary. Lay is the past tense of "to lie"
> (I lay down for a short nap), the correct present tense for
> "to lie" in the imperative ("Damnit! Lie still!"), or the
> correct present tense for the mistaken use of "lie" (I lay
> the blame for this message squarely on Buck). "Lie" is
> always present tense, unless accompanied by "will", at
> which point it becomes the future. And for purists: the
> only way you can get layed is if a minstrel serenades you
> (laid is the past tense). How to put all this together?
> <musters all his powerful grammatical resources>
A good summary. To expand a bit more, the verb "to lay" (when it means "to
place") is usually transitive--that means it always takes a direct object.
Ex: "Lay the book on the table," with "book" as the direct object. "To
lie" (when it does *not* mean "to tell a falsehood") is intransitive--used
when there is no object. Ex: "The dog was lying on the couch when I came
home for lunch." (That is true, by the way, but don't tell my wife.)
don
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Donald J. Plummer
Department of English--Program in
Scientific and Technical Communication
214 University Hall 372-7242
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, Ohio USA
We are often unable to tell people what
they need to know, because they want
to know something else.
--George MacDonald
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