Lay – vs – Lie

First, some rough definitions…

• Lay: to set something* down
• Lie: to rest (or to tell an untruth, but nobody really cares about that definition at the moment)

* The “something” is important. Just in case the underline wasn’t enough to point that out.

Present tense isn’t that hard. Either you lie on the bed or you lay the pillow down; either you rest on the bed or you set the pillow down.

Notice that there is no “something” when you use the verb lie. You just lie down. That’s it. End of action. All you’re doing is resting. However, in order to use the verb lay, you need a “something” – a subject. In order to set something down, you need that something to set down. So you lay the pillow down.

Past tense is…interesting. Why? Well, the past tense of lay is laid. And the past tense of lie is lay.

If you wanted to say that you rested yesterday on the couch, you would say that yesterday you lay on the couch. And if you wanted to say that you set the pillow down yesterday, you’d say that yesterday you laid the pillow down.

Stupid, I know.

While we’re at it, why don’t we get into past participles? As a quick definition, you use the past participle of a verb if something has happened. This is more than just past tense; you also need the word has, had, or have. (Example: Bobby, despite all odds, has graduated.) If someone refers to “passive” language, this is what the person is talking about: using past participles.

Lie’s past participle is lain. Lay’s past participle is laid – the same as regular past tense.

A few examples?

Lie: The dog has lain in the mud.

Lay: The owner has laid a blanket on the ground for the dog to step on.

Still confused? Here’s a chart that organizes the different tenses:

Present Tense	Past Tense	Past Participle
Lie	Lay	Lain
Lay	Laid	Laid