It’s correct to say ‘lie awake’ but this becomes ‘lay awake’ in the past tense: When we started the building, we couldn’t have know what problems lay ahead.However, ‘lie ahead’ becomes ‘lay ahead’ in the past tense: Lizzie has fallen asleep on the couch.You could also use ‘lay’ in its present tense form but you would need to add a direct object: The morning after the storm, I lay in bed not wanting to rise and survey the damage.We lay in bed to watch the sunrise yesterday.I suggest you lie in bed until you fall asleep. Every Sunday morning I lie in bed until 10am.‘Lie in bed’ is present tense whereas ‘lay in bed’ is past tense. Īgain, both forms of this lay vs lie conundrum are correct, depending on the tense. Please lay down the cake on the table.‘Lay down’ is a variation of ‘lay’ and could also be said as ‘set down’ or ‘put down’. ‘Lie down’ means to lie, but often with the intention or resting or sleeping. It depends on whether you need the transitive verb ‘lay’ or the intransitive verb ‘lie’ – and also on the tense you’re using. The confusing thing about lie down vs lay down is that both are correct in certain circumstances. You might have questions about common phrasal verbs or other expressions which use either lie or lay. But there is more to cover in order to give a full overview of this topic, since there are lots of everyday English expressions containing these words which can be equally confusing. Now we have explored all the variations of lay vs lie that come from different tenses. My cat has never lain on my bed I won’t allow it.My cat lay on the sofa all day yesterday.We just lay there looking up at the stars.Here are some examples using the past tense and past participle forms of lie: I have laid all the planks against the wall.Īgain, in any of these sentences you could replace the verb with ‘put’ and you would still have a grammatically correct sentence.And where have you laid the sandwiches?.I laid the cake on the table, just as you asked.The students laid their papers on the teacher’s desk.You said you laid the keys on the shelf.Here are some sentences using the past tense and past participle forms of lay: Here’s a table to show the correct verb forms: Base verb When we look at the simple past tense, there is another layer of confusion because the past tense of ‘lie’ is ‘lay’. Let’s lie in the shade so we don’t get too hot.This bed looks so dirty! I’m not going to lie there.You look tired, why don’t you lie down for a while?.Next, here is how we use ‘lie’ as a transitive verb: Lie as a transitive verb in the present tense This is important to note because it gets more complicated when we look at lay vs lie in other tenses later on. These examples all use the present tense form of the verb. Lay your papers on the table at the front of the class when you have finished.Īnother way to think of it is that you can replace ‘lay’ with ‘put’ in these sentences and they all still make sense.Please can you lay the cake on the table?.She’s sleeping lay the blanket on her gently.Remember, we use ‘lay’ when the action is being done by someone/something to someone/something else: Lay as an intransitive verb in the present tense Side note: the verb ‘lie’ also means to tell an untruth but we are not talking about this meaning here. So let’s take a look at some examples to illustrate the difference between lie and lay. If you’re not familiar with the concept of transitive and intransitive verbs, this definition might still seem confusing. This distinction is the same as when looking at rise vs raise. In short, if the action is being done to something or someone else then use ‘lay’, otherwise use ‘lie’. Lie is intransitive: it takes no direct object, meaning the subject is doing the action.Lay is transitive: it takes a direct object, meaning the action is done to someone or something else.To lie is to adopt a flat position on a surface.To lay is to set or place something down.Here’s the key difference between lay and lie which dictates how you should use the base verbs: Lay vs lie What is the difference between lay vs lie?
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