Lay. Laid. Lie. Lying. Laying.
I like to write short stories in my spare time and I seem to need to use some form on "lie" in my writing. And it annoys me to no end. Can anybody help me out with the proper usage? The interwebs is not very helpful on this issue. I speaking about past tense verbage. "I laid down on the bed. I lay on the bed. He laid down on the bed. He lay on the bed. I was lying on the bed. I was laying on the bed." See what I mean?
"I laid down on the bed" is incorrect even though that's the way everyone says it. It should be "I lay down on the bed" if it's past tense.
"I lay on the bed" is fine as the past tense of lie.
"He laid down on the bed" is incorrect, it works the same as the first example.
"He lay on the bed" is correct.
"I was lying on the bed" is correct.
"I was laying on the bed" is incorrect, you're not doing something to something, so you use lie/lying, not lay/laying.
If you were setting your cat down on the bed, though, you would say "I was laying the cat on the bed," and that would be grammatically awesome, but people would look at you funny and wonder why you were sexing up your cat.
Warder to starry_nite
Chapterfish — Nate's Writing Blog
http://chapterfish.wordpress.com
Chapterfish — Nate's Writing Blog
http://chapterfish.wordpress.com
I hate this word
- 03/08/2012 03:05:46 AM
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And per your examples:
- 03/08/2012 04:08:02 AM
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Lay is a sneaky bastard. My ears hear it as present tense, so I like laid better *NM*
- 03/08/2012 04:44:28 AM
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Also, when you want the dog to stop begging at the dinner table, you tell it to...
- 04/08/2012 12:51:29 AM
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