Ninja's English Usage Advice Column

Of all attempts at writing and speaking good English I have the most trouble with the words lay and lie and all the variations thereof. No sooner do I look up these words, read and absorb the differences between them, than the distinctions between them fly out of my head. I usually have no idea how to properly use lay and lie. Perhaps this is a good exercise then to give you the benefit of my research, process the usage of lie and lay and move past my difficulties wiser but not necessarily with a better grasp of how to use these words properly.

I will not blame you if you now want to go straight past this particular column. I can imagine that your eyes are glazing over. I know I would have been inclined to surf entirely away from this blog.

Thanks for sticking around. Now: Let' s get down to business.

The main difference between the verbs to lay and to lie is that lay is usually transitive, meaning the verb refers to an object and lie is usually intransitive, meaning it does not refer directly to an object. It is the difference between the chicken lays an egg and the tired chicken lies down.

Lay, as a verb, means, in general and most commonly, to place or put something down. This can be as in lay that egg, lay a bet, lay flooring, lay the land to waste. It also means to assert or allege as in lay claim to my fortune. And of course, it can be used as a synonym for copulation. The past tense of this word is laid. She laid a bet on my behalf. The chicken laid an egg. The army laid the land to waste. He laid claim to my enormous fortune on the occasion of my death. For the first time in many months, he was finally laid. The past participle is also laid as in: He has laid tile many times before.

Lie, as a verb can mean to recline in a horizontal position. She went inside to lie down. It can also mean to be in a place or to exist in a certain state as in the water must lie deep below the ground, the egg lies beneath the chicken, the matter lies in your hands, he lies in wait for his enemy. The past tense of lie is lay and this is often where the confusion exists for speakers and writers. Yesterday she lay down. We discovered that the jewels lay in the dragon's lair. Last year the matter lay in your hands but now it lies in mine. The past participle is lain. He has lain in wait for his enemy for many days.

(I don't think anyone reading this has any trouble with the verb lie that means to tell an untruth. Its past tense and past participle is lied . Do not lie about where you were last night. She lied to me about where she was last night. He has lied about where he found that chicken. )

Martin H. Manser in his book Good Word Guide reminds us that to lay low and to lie low are two very different things. Laying low means to actually place something down or in a low position. To lie low is the one that means to be in hiding. Now you know.

The Merriam-Webster people seem very intolerant of those of us who use these words interchangeably. They acknowledge that "...lay has been used in the...sense of lie since the 14th century." That is a very long time. But still they admonish: "Remember that even though many people do use lay for lie, others will judge you unfavorably if you do." Whoa. Harsh.

# posted by Ninja @ 5:55 PM