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Is my cat laying or lying sideways on the ground?

The verbs lay and lie have been confusing English learners around the world for hundred of years! Their irregular forms make them even more troublesome. They're also common pet peeves even to people with PhDs. So on this blog, I'll tackle this topic with simplicity for the sake of our fellow learners of the club.

Let's define 'lay' first. Lay means to put or place something down (and to put on something). Its past tense and participle form is 'laid' whereas its progressive form is 'laying'. It usually has an object so it's transitive. Remember that transitive verbs always receive objects.

Here are some examples:

Please lay the magazines on the couch. (present simple - magazines here is the object)
The chicken lays egg every day. (present simple - egg as the object)
Chris Daughtry laid his guitar on the table. (past tense - guitar is the object)
The construction workers are laying the metal posts on the ground. (present progressive - the metal posts is the object)
I have already laid the books on the shelf. (present perfect - the books is the object)
Nicole Kidman had laid her make-up on the counter top before she went shopping. (past perfect - make-up is the object)

On the other hand, the verb 'lie' has two meanings. One is to tell something that is not true. Its past and participle form is 'lied'. The progressive form is 'lying'. But let's focus on its second meaning which is 'to rest' or 'to recline', normally in a horizontal way. Its past tense is 'lay' (not connected to our first verb - lay). 'Lain' is the participle form while 'lying' is the progressive form. Are you confused
yet? Take heed! In addition, lain is not commonly used these days in every day conversations. But it pays to learn it for academic purposes. It might appear in exams especially if you're still studying in universities.

'Lie' is intransitive which means it doesn't take an object. It's mostly followed by a prepositional phrase (on the ground, on the sofa).

Here are some examples so you could understand how this verb is used.

You looked tired. Please lie down for a few minutes. (present simple)
She lay in bed most of the time yesterday. (past simple - take note of the time conjunction, yesterday. The meaning is quite different from our first word - 'lay'.
The baby is lying on the crib. (present progressive)
I haven't lain in the bathtub for weeks. (present perfect)

Remember, 'lay' is transitive (has an object) while 'lie' is intransitive (no object).

Watch a video here for additional information.

Now it's your turn. Write a few example sentences using lay and lie. Try to use their different verb forms as well. We'll check them to see if you got them all right. Thank you in advance!

Good luck!