by Kerry Michael Wood

Created on: April 13, 2011   Last Updated: April 21, 2011

No area of grammar calls forth as many errors as the pair of verbs lie and lay. Lie is intransitive, which means it takes no direct object. Lay (in the present tense) is transitive and always takes a direct object. Lay is both present tense transitive and past tense intransitive. For those whose grammar is shaky, here is a brief explanation.

Consider this sentence. "The mother cat gently laid her new-born kittens on the blanket." The verb or action word is "laid." Now ask who or what laid and the answer is "cat," the subject of the verb. Next say the subject -cat- and the verb -laid- and ask whom or what. The answer is kittens, the direct object. We can disregard the adjectives "The" and "mother," the adverb "gently," and the adverb phrase "on the blanket." The core of the sentence is "cat laid kittens." Subject, verb, direct object.

Now let's look at an intransitive sentence. "The dog lies in a pool of sunshine." The verb is "lies." Ask who or what lies and the answer is the subject, "dog." There is no answer to "The dog lies what" because the sentence has no direct object. "In a pool of sunshine" is a cluster of phrases. "In a pool" is adverbial since it tells where about the verb lies. "Of sunshine" is adjectival since it tells what kind of pool.

"Lie" means to recline or be situated. "Lay" in the present tense means to put down or arrange. Note the principal parts or inflections of the verbs.

Verb          Present Tense          Past Tense          Past Participle          Present Participle

lay v.t.           laid                         laid                    laid                         laying

lie  v.i.           lie                           lay                    

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