Sunday, October 9, 2016

Lay vs. Lie


Lay vs. Lie

The words lay and lie tend to be very confusing me. I have learned and tried to drill in my mind that the word lay takes on a direct object, when the word lie does not. For example:

“I want to lie down on the couch.”
“On the couch” is a prepositional phrase, therefore not requiring the word lay.

“I am going to lay the phone on the table.”
The phone is the objected being laid down.




 I really enjoyed this picture that I found online. It is simple and holds truth. It helps remind me that the word lay is to place an object somewhere.







However, things get tricky when you change from present to past tense. This chart helps me remember the correct inflections to choose from when writing or speaking.


Also, I did not find an editing mistake for this week. I'm not sure if I just wasn't paying attention, or if I really didn't see an obvious one. So I apologize for not including one in this weeks post. 




2 comments:

  1. I will be honest in saying that this is one error that I still tend to fall victim to in my current writing, so I appreciate you bringing this up! I found that table that you provided very effective and it definitely helped me out. I may be exaggerating in stating how often I use this error, but this is still very cool for me to see.

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  2. I have misused lay and lie so much through grade school that I always have to double check my answers. Both of these graphics helps me very much because I learn visually. Thank you!

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