Revised as of
7 July 2023
Lay versus Lie confuses the heck out of me, and I’m constantly referring back to this entry in the Word Confusions. Ahem, anyone with more examples that would make things even clearer . . . would be most gratefully added and credited . . .
As an adjective, lay is easy since it applies to a person. When referring to someone attached to a religious organization, it means someone not ordained. For Catholics, it means someone who cannot perform Mass or hear confessions. In law or medicine, it would mean the person could not argue in a trial or claim to be a doctor.
As a noun, lay is most commonly used as slang and can be applied to a man or woman while lie is morally inappropriate in a great many circumstances, but easy enough to recognize.
It’s when lay or lie are in their verb form that my head starts to ache and wanna go home.
The main difference is:
- lay = direct object with action, and
- lie = doin’ nothin’
| The Grammar Curmudgeon with interesting comparisons between . . . | |
|---|---|
| Lay | Lie |
| Lay the book on the desk, would you?
You are actively affecting a direct object, the book. |
The book is lying on the desk . . .
. . . it is reclining, resting there. |
| If you find a lay on the beach . . .
. . . you found someone with whom to engage in sexual intercourse . . . |
When you go to Bermuda for your vacation, you spend your time lying on the beach
getting a tan, sleeping, reading . . . |
| If you are laying on the couch . . .
. . . you are placing someone or something on the couch. |
If you lie down on the sofa to watch TV and spend the entire evening lying there . . .
. . . you’re not doing anything. |
| If you see something laying on the ground . . .
. . . it must be doing something else, such as laying eggs. |
If you see something lying on the ground . . .
it is just resting there, doing nothing. |
Exploring Later . . .
You may want to explore “Lays versus Laze“, “Lade versus Laid“, “Lie versus Lye“, “Liar vs Lier vs Lyre“, and “Lain versus Lane“.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
If you found this post on “Lay versus Lie” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.
| Lay | Lie |
|---|---|
The USA Lightweight 4 Rowing at the World Champs, 2003, was photographed by Joel Rogers and uploaded by Johnteslade~commonswiki. It is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — A race encourages one to lay on with the oars. |
.jpg)
Wooden Puppets by Nicolas Vollmer from Munich, Germany, is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — That Pinocchio lies and lies and lies. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Past tense for lie
Adjective 3; Noun 1, 2 ; Verb, intransitive 4 & transitive 1 Plural for the noun: lays Third person present verb: lays |
Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive
Plural for the noun: lies Third person present verb: lies |
| An action in process Put something/someone down Adjective: Belonging to, performed by, or pertaining to a person who is not of the clergy, law profession, medicine 3 Noun: A short narrative or poem that is usually sung 2 [Slang] A partner for purposes of sexual intercourse Verb, intransitive: To wager or bet To apply oneself vigorously To deal or aim blows vigorously (usually followed by on, at, about, etc.) [Nonstandard] To be in a horizontal, recumbent, or prostrate position, as on a bed or the ground
[Of objects] To rest in a horizontal or flat position To be or remain in a position or state of inactivity, subjection, restraint, concealment, etc. To rest, press, or weigh (usually followed by on or upon) To depend (usually followed by on or upon) To be placed or situated To be stretched out or extended Verb, transitive: You lay the book down on the sofa. Legend:
Put or place something or someone down gently or carefully into a horizontal position |
Requires no movement at all Recline Noun: An untruth, a fabrication, a statement that is purposefully false Verb, intransitive: You lie down on the sofa. The act of telling an untruth Be in or assume a horizontal position, recline Verb, transitive: |
| Examples: | |
| Adjective: Checking out the lay of the land. The Catholic Church uses quite a few lay men these days. Noun: She was a sweet lay. A minstrel may have sung a lay such as the poem by Sir Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel. Verb, intransitive: “The shorter the price you wish to lay, the less money you have to risk compared to your potential reward” (Betfair). They laid on their oars with enthusiasm. He laid blows on right and left. Dillinger will lay out his plans to rob the bank. He often lays in bed all the morning. The book lies on the table. It’d be a good place to lie in ambush. These things lie upon my mind. There’s some nice land lying along the coast. Explore the broad plain that lies before us. When the wind lays, it’ll rain. Verb, transitive: The hens are laying eggs. Last week, Steve laid down on the floor. The cat laid in the mud after it rained yesterday. Legend:
Help me lay a cover on the bed. He laid his finger on her lips. |
Noun: He told a lie. No, it’s lies, all lies! The lies are getting crazier and more convoluted. Verb, intransitive: He just laid there! Steve has lain on the floor for days. The cat has lain in the mud for hours. Verb, transitive: Janey was accustomed to lying her way out of difficulties. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: well-laid Noun: lay-by, layaway, layman, laymen, layoff, layout, layperson, laypeople, laywoman, laywomen |
Noun: lie-down, lie-in |
| Phrasal Verb | |
| lay about lay about one lay about oneself lay about someone lay aside lay aside something lay before lay down lay down something lay in lay into lay into someone lay off lay off someone lay on lay on something lay out lay out someone lay out something lay over lay someone off lay someone out lay someone up lay something aside lay something before someone lay something down lay something in lay something on lay something on someone lay something out lay something up lay up lay up someone |
lie about lie ahead lie around lie behind lie in lie off lie to lie with |
| History of the Word: | |
|
Old English licgan is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch liggen and the German liegen, from an Indo-European root shared by the Greek lektron, lekhos and the Latin lectus meaning bed. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Lay versus Lie
Apple Dictionary.com
Betfair Help Centre. <https://en-betfair.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/417/~/exchange%3A-what-does-the-term-lay-mean-and-what-is-a-lay-bet%3F>.
Fogarty, Mignon. “Lay versus Lie.” Quick & Dirty Tips. Grammar Girl. 19 Apr 2018. Web. n.d. <http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/lay-versus-lie.aspx&gr;.
The Grammar Curmudgeon. n.d. <http://www.grammarmudge.cityslide.com/articles/article/992333/8992.htm>.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Sleeping on the Couch is via Pxhere and Hens, Chicks, Nest by logapradeep is via Pixabay. Both are in the public domain.
