VOCABULARY

LIE AND LAY

You lie down on the sofa to watch TV.

Please lay the book on the table.

Do you know how to use lie and lay?

To use these two verbs correctly every time,

*you need to know things about verbs,

*you need to know the problem areas in “lay” and “lie,”

*and you need some practice

What is the difference between sentence 1 and sentence 2?

Lay means "to place something down." It is something you do to something else. It is a transitive verb.

Example:

Lay the book on the table.
(It is being done to something else.)

Lie means "to recline" or "be placed." It does not act on anything or anyone else. It is an intransitive verb.

Example: 

You lie down on the sofa to watch TV 
(It is not being done to anything else.)

The reason lay and lie are confusing is their past tenses.

The past tense of lay is laid.

The past tense of lie is lay.

I laid it down here yesterday.
(It is being done to something else.)

Last night I lay awake in bed.
(It is not being done to anything else.)

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