Lay vs Lie And How Easy It Is To Get Them Wrong

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lay vs lie

Why do we get lay vs lie so confused all the time?

These two verbs cause so many problems. Even for proficient English speakers.

What is the past tense of lay? What is the past tense of the verb lie?

But don’t confuse to lie, meaning not to tell the truth or to tell a falsehood. That’s a different story altogether.

The cause of the problem is a misuse in the usage of grammar. Isn’t this so often the case in English?


So what’s the big problem here?

Well, let’s get the technical stuff out of the way first and then look at some examples.

The main contrast between the verb lie and the verb lay is that one is an intransitive verb and the other is a transitive verb.

Lay is a transitive verb, while lie is an intransitive verb.

The easiest way to remember which verb is which is to think about the root of the word transitive, which is from transit.

It means to go across or passage from one place to another.

So, a transitive verb moves the action of the verb across to an object.

But an intransitive verb action is not transferred to the object. The action of the verb only applies to the subject.

Right, so that all sounded very technical, didn’t it?

Let’s look at some simple examples to see how it works. It is usually a much easier way to recognise the difference.


An intransitive verb does not have an object.

The baby is teething.

I work for a building company.

They laughed together.

We talked for a while.


A transitive verb requires an object.

Mike used to manage a restaurant.

Did you wash the dishes?

I can move my car.

Can I open the window, please?


With lay and lie

I lie down in the afternoon. (intransitive)

I lay the book on the table. (transitive)

A chicken lays eggs. (transitive)

We lie together on the beach. (intransitive)


With lie and lay, it’s all relatively easy in the present tense. Use lie with no object and lay with an object.


Further reading: What Is The Subjunctive Mood And When Should You Use It?


Lay and lie and their confusing verb tense forms

Where these two verbs get a little more complex is when we change from the present to past tenses.

lay vs lie table

The reason for most of the confusion is that the past tense of lie is lay, which is also the present tense of lay.

Boy, English really has a way of making things tough for writers sometimes.

The present and past forms of to lay are easy and regular and they are lay, laid and laid. That’s not too difficult to remember.

But for, to lie, the forms are easy to forget because they are so weirdly irregular. They are lie, lay and lain. How often do you use or hear the past participle form lain?

Luckily, the present participle of both lie and lay are regular. Laying, lying.

In everyday use, it becomes easier if you try to keep remembering that lay requires a direct object and lie doesn’t.


Lay means to put something down, often gently, and always needs an object.

I laid the book on my bed.

She was laid low for a week by the flu.

Could you lay my new dress on my bed, please?

I laid the table with our best crockery.

Mary laid the keys on the counter.

My boss is laying down the law at work.


Lie means to take a horizontal position, recline or to rest and doesn’t require a direct object.

I think I’ll lie down quietly and see if it helps my headache.

I lay down for an hour this morning.

I had only lain down for a few minutes when the phone rang.

He lay still for a moment.

Where’s Susan? She’s lying down because of her headache.


As you can see in the examples above, the same use applies when you use a phrasal verb form such as lie down vs lay down.

It is easy to remember the difference. If there is an object, it is lay. If there is no object, it is lie.


Further reading: The Best Free Online Grammar Check With Punctuation Checker


The world of music is why we often learn to get it all so wrong

Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton are to blame!

Sorry Bob and Eric, but your songs should be Lie Lady Lie and Lie Down Sally.

Can you spot why some of these popular song titles use lay incorrectly?

Lay Lady Lay (wrong)
Bob Dylan

Lay Down Sally (wrong)
Eric Clapton

Lay Your Hands On Me (correct)
Bon Jovi

Now I Lay Thee Down (correct)
Machine Head

Pick ’em Up and Lay ’em Down (correct)
Toby Keith

Lover Lay Down (wrong)
Dave Matthews Band

I Lay Down and Die (wrong)
Bee Gees

Lay It Down (correct)
Kenny Rogers

Lay Your Money Down (correct)

Lay Back Daddy  (wrong)
Etta James

Lay Me Down Easy (correct)
Three Dog Night

Lay Another Log on the Fire (correct)
B.B. King

Lay Your Love on Me (correct)
Bad Company

Would You Lay With Me  (wrong)
Johnny Cash

Lay Down Beside Me  (wrong)
Kenny Rogers



Does it matter if you use lay and lie incorrectly? Of course, it does.

No writer in their right mind wants to make simple grammar or vocabulary mistakes.

If it is only a matter of people understanding when you are speaking, well, maybe it’s not such a big issue.

But if you are a writer, you should take the time to iron out any knots you might have with these two crazy verbs.

Getting them right is much better than being attacked by the grammar police.

I’ll leave you with a little musical relaxation.

I expect after reading this article, your ears might now react to how Bob and Eric got the grammar of lie and lay all so very wrong in some of their most famous songs.

Well, it’s the blues, so who cares?


More reading: The 12 Best Free Grammar Check And Grammar Corrector Apps


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Derek Haines

Derek Haines is an Australian author, living in Switzerland.

4 thoughts on “Lay vs Lie And How Easy It Is To Get Them Wrong

  • One of the most helpful articles I’ve read in a long time. Thanks!!!

  • Another reason it’s easy for people to get confused (besides hearing others use the verbs either incorrectly or interchangeably all their lives) is that often, the direct objects of verbs like “lay” and what we used to call “understood”–that is, unstated. It would not be at all odd to have your mom ask “Did you wash?” before you ran off to school in the morning. She would have meant, “Did you wash your face” or “hands,” or even your whole body, as in “Did you take a bath?” But you’d have understood her question even though it was implicit. Similarly, some intransitive verbs can be used transitively, as in “I like to work puzzles.” An example of this kind of confusion for lie/lay might be the point that in “She will lay down the law,” the actual verb is “lay down”; English has a lot of these compounds. “Down” is a preposition and can’t, in itself, be the direct object of a transitive verb. It’s not a far journey to “I’m going to lay down in the sun for a while.”

    Sorry! I love this stuff!

  • Thank you, this was very helpful. I always get lie and lay wrong.

    • LIE versus LAY I learned the correct use of these two verberbs I was taught the phonetics of both in a course many years ago.


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