lay, lie

Lay and lie are not interchangeable forms. Lay is a transitive verb and needs an object to act upon, whereas lie is an intransitive verb.

Even more simply put, lay is the action word. It takes a direct object. The past tense is laid, and the present tense is laying.

Examples using lay in the past tense:

• They laid the briefcase on the table. (laid works on the object briefcase)
• He laid out the arguments. (laid works on the object arguments)
• She laid the book on the stack. (laid works on the object book)
• They laid down hard truths. (laid works on the object hard truths)

Lie is the state of laying something or someone laying. It doesn’t take a direct object. Its past tense is lay. The past participle is lain. The present participle is lying.

Examples using lie in the past tense:

• The flowers lay on the grave.
• They lay on the bed.
• She lay on the grass.
• The book lay on the table.