Lay or Lie

"Lay" and "lie" are two commonly confused verbs.

Even native English speakers get these two verbs mixed up all the time.

These two verbs have similar meaning, but "lay" need a direct object, while "lie" doesn't.

The past tense of "lie" is "lay". It can make things even more confusing.

Past simple and past participle of "lay" and "lie".

	Base form	Past Simple	Past Participle
1	lay	laid	laid
2	lie lie	lay lied	lain lied

Lay

lay, laid, laid

Lay means to put something/someone down carefully in a flat position.

E.g.
The children lay their toys on the floor.
He lays his phone on the table.
I lay my head on the pillow.

Lie

The verb "lie" has two meanings

1) to tell a falsehood
lie, lied, lied

This meaning of "lie" usually don't have any problem.

E.g.
She lies about her age.

2) to rest or recline in a flat position
lie, lay, lain

This meaning of lie is similar to the verb lay.

Be careful that the past tense of lie is lay.

E.g.
I want to lie on the sofa.
The cat lies in the bed.
We love to lie on the beach.
I like to lay on the beach.

Be careful

The past tense of "lie" is "lay". It can make things confusing.

He wants to lie on the ground.

He lay on the ground yesterday.

Differences between "lay" and "lie" :

"Lay" is a transitive verb. That means "lay" needs a direct object.

"Lie" is an intransitive verb. It does not need an object.

e.g.
He lays his phone on the ground.

"his phone" is the direct object.

The children lay their toys on the floor.

"their toys" is the direct object.

Because "lay" need a direct object.

You can't say "He lays on the ground" because there is no direct object mentioned.

But, you can say "He lies on the ground."

Or, in past tense "He lay on the ground yesterday."

The present participle of "lie" is "lying". The "ie" has to change to "y".

E.g.
He spends all day lying on the sofa.

Exercise: 90 Most Common English Verbs