student asking question

Is “lay” the past tense of “lie”? Or “lay” is “lay” (present) here? Could you explain a bit?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

"To lay" and "to lie" are different verbs with similar meanings. Lay means "to place something down." It is something you do to something else and is a transitive verb. Lie means "to recline" or "be placed." It does not act on anything or anyone else and is an intransitive verb. The past tense of "to lay" is laid, while the past tense of "to lie" is "lay". Ex. I laid down the book on this table yesterday, but now I can't seem to find it anywhere. Ex. I lay awake in bed all night, unable to sleep.

Popular Q&As

03/22

Complete the expression with a quiz!