Am I going to lay down or am I going to lie down?

Question

What's the deal with the different tenses of lay and lie. Then there's telling a lie and lye that is an alkaline. Why couldn't it all be simplified?

Answer 1

Grammar is a bear, isn't it? Try to remember that lay usually means to put. Lay, laid, laid. Lie usually means to recline.
Lie, lay, lain.

Someone else is eager for the computer. I can't go into more detail just now. Sorry!

Answer 2

They are not different tenses in this example - they are different verbs. "Lay" relates to putting something else somewhere.
In English you lay something (down). Eg "Now I lay ME down to sleep", the old children's prayer; or "I will lay down MY sword and shield), the old Spiritual. You also lay carpet, concrete, paving stones, eggs (if you're a bird!), etc.
In technical terms, if there is an object involved then you lay it, lay it down or it is laid/laid down.
Where only the subject is involved, it/he/she/they lie down.
BUT, 'lay' is past tense of 'lie', while 'laid' is past tense for 'lay' (!!!) which is where the confusion comes in. Take this example:-
"I laid down on the bed. [I put myself down!] I was able to lie there peacefully. [Static/continuous of 'lie'.] I lay there for an hour. [Past tense of 'lie'!]"
The English language is something that has grown, rather than been planned.
Think about 'to', 'two' and 'too' - pronounced the same (unless you stress 'too', to show what word you mean). Or 'hair', 'here', 'hear' and 'hare' which, in some dialects, can all be pronounced the same.
Unfortunately, no move to rationalise it has ever succeeded - we just have to live with it!

Answer 3

To simplify, just sit down! LOL. The English language is the hardest language in the world to learn - ask any foreign exchange student. If I were you, after reading all of these answers, I would go LIE down.

Answer 4

Ah, the joys of the English language. If you have a book in your hand, you can lay it down on the table. If you flop onto the couch, you lie down. (Difference between transitive and intransitive verbs.)

Answer 5

Lay is the past tense of Lie.
Not to be confused with ' I let it lay on the table'

Answer 6

Yes... it is very confusing.. But remember... that... Lay means “to put” or “to place.”

Present lay
Past laid
Past Participle laid
The following sentences use a form of lay correctly:

I always lay the towels on the shelf.
I laid the towels on the shelf yesterday.
I have laid the towels on the shelf daily.

Lie means “to recline” or “to rest.”

Present lie
Past lay
Past Participle lain
The following sentences use a form of lie correctly:

At this moment, the towels lie on the shelf.
The towels lay on the shelf yesterday.
The towels have lain on the shelf every day.

Or.. we can look at it in another way… “LIE” is an “intransitive verb(one that DOES NOT take an object) and it means( as noted above) to rercline and as stated, its principal parts are lie/lay/lain
Lay, on the other hand, is a transitive verb (one that takes an object), meaning "to put" or "to place." Its principal parts are lay (base form), laid (past tense), laid (past participle), and laying (present participle).

The two words have different meanings and ARE NOT interchangeable. Although lay also serves as the past tense of lie (to recline) – as in, "He lay(this is confusing I know) down for a nap an hour ago" – lay (or laying) may not otherwise be used to denote reclining. It is not correct to say or write, "I will lay down for nap" or "He is laying down for a nap." The misuse of lay or laying in the sense of "to recline" (which requires lie or lying) is the most common error involving the confusion of these two words.
> Once you lay (put or place) a book on the desk, it is lying (reclining, resting) there, not laying there.

> When you go to San Francisco for your vacation, you spend your time lying (not laying) on the beach (unless, of course, you are engaged in sexual activity and are, in the vernacular, laying someone on the beach).

> You lie down on the sofa to watch TV and spend the entire evening lying there; you do not lay down on the sofa to watch TV and spend the entire evening laying there.

> If you see something lying on the ground, it is just resting there; if you see something laying on the ground, it must be doing something else, such as laying eggs.

Answer 7

If you're planning on going to bed you had better do one or the other.
Actually lay is objective. eg I am going to lay myself down.
Nobody says that, but who cares? Why don't you try to get some rest.

Answer 8

You lay down a book.....you lie down to nap.......OK...I'm confused now too. I think that's right.

Answer 9

the english language is so very complicated. half of us don't even know why there are so many rules , and so many changes to make in grammar......

Answer 10

lay is present, lie is supposed to be lied which is the past. I don't know!