![]() And then there's the unrelated verb meaning "to tell an untruth." That lie goes lie, lied, have lied, lying. I laid it down as I have laid other books down.ĭid you catch that? For lay, we have lay, laid, have laid, laying for lie, we have lie, lay, have lain, lying. Here's lay in context in tenses that show its principal forms: That's tricky enough, but it gets worse when we start using the words beyond the present tense. It's for something or someone moving on their own or something that's already in position: You can lie down there. Lay's most common meaning is "to place (something or someone) down in a flat position." Lie's corresponding meaning is "to be in a flat position on a surface." Lay is transitive it requires that the verb have an object there has to be a thing or person being placed: Lay it down. June Casagrande is the author of “The Joy of Syntax: A Simple Guide to All the Grammar You Know You Should Know.” She can be reached at our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.If you're someone who cares about writing and speaking carefully, though, your communication skills will be strengthened by keeping them straight, so here's the lowdown. So you don’t have to memorize the past tense forms of “lay” and “lie.” But if you write or edit for a living, you should definitely look them up. Look up “lay” and next to it you’ll see just “laid,” which is how dictionaries tell you that there’s just one form for both the past tense and past participle. Look up “lie” and next to it you’ll see “lay, lain,” which is how dictionaries show past tense and past participle forms, in that order. You can find the past forms in your dictionary. ![]() NPR’s and NBC’s posts should have both used the past tense of lie, lay: Yesterday, Ginsburg lay in state. The past tense of “lie” is downright cruel: It’s “lay.” The past participle is “lain.” Today I lie down. ![]() In the past I have laid the rug on the floor. The past tense and past participle of “lay” are the same: laid. So for irregular verbs, the only way to get past tense forms right is to memorize them - or look them up. Past tense forms of “be” are tough for nonnative speakers to learn. The most irregular verb of all is “be,” which goes off script not just with its past-tense forms but with its present forms, too: I am. Still others have past forms that are identical to their present tense. Some irregular verbs use the same form for both the past tense and the past participle. The past participle is just the one that goes with some form of “have”: I have walked. In the past I have walked.ĭon’t let the term “participle” scare you. The regular verb “walk,” for instance, forms both its past tense and its past participle by adding “ed.” That’s the formula for most regular verbs: Today I walk. You yourself lie.īoth these verbs are irregular, meaning they don’t follow the formula regular verbs use to express something that happened in the past. ![]() “I’m going to lie down.” You don’t lie a rug on the floor. For example, a rug in “I’m going to lay this rug on the floor.” Lay is a transitive verb, which means it takes an object. So for anyone who wants to master “lay” and “lie,” here’s a refresher. Present and future tenses don’t seem to cause too much confusion, but past tense forms trip people up - even pros. Unlike casual users who have a lot of leeway in how they use “lay” and “lie,” news agencies are supposed to follow the strict guidelines for these words. NBC News tweeted: “The flag-draped casket of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lied in state at the US Capitol.”įor news folks, those are bad errors. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s trainer of 21 years, Bryant Johnson, paid tribute to her with a set of push-ups as she laid in state at the Capitol on Friday,” National Public Radio announced in a Facebook post. But after the fact, editors and social media managers stumbled. When plans were announced for late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to lie in state at the Capitol, no one seemed to struggle with the verb.
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