Correcting Your English: Lie and Lay

I am so glad I had already thought of this post dear reader because this morning I am running behind schedule. Not just writing schedule but any schedule I've got. I'm behind the laundry schedule, the ironing schedule, the cooking schedule, the vacuuming schedule, the reading schedule and the brushing dogs schedule. And the call insurance broker schedule as well. Try as I may to keep the domestic and the mundane off the weekend, they do come back to bite me every single Monday morning.

 

But luckily, I had thought of 'lie' and 'lay' for quite some time, as a few weeks back I was flicking through Correcting Your English, which I already mentioned right here, and figured that it would make a great little post, especially as I've certainly gone off the rails of grammar and style in favour of unrelated yapping over the past few months. If you think that cats and dogs know this stuff backwards, please think again! I often read plenty of copy that demonstrates that humans certainly do not. Enjoy the examples and corrections courtesy of Professor Blamires:

'The verb 'to lie' is intransitive. Its past tense is 'lay' and its past participle is 'lain'. (Only the verb 'to lie', meaning to speak untruthfully, has the form 'lied'). The verb 'to lay' is transitive. Its past tense is 'laid' and its past participle is also 'laid'. Perhaps some difficulties arise from the fact that the past tense of 'lie' ('lay') matches the present tense of 'lay' ('lay').

At the foot of the high rise, she could just about make out a bundle of black and white fur laying motionless on the grass (Today)

The verb 'to lie' is required here: she cold just about made out a bundle of black and white fur lying motionless on the grass.

My writing day starts at 1.30 when I lay on the sofa and dictate 6.500 words, as I did today and will tomorrow. (Times)

This is Barbara Cartland being quoted, one hopes, incorrectly. My writing day starts at 1.30 when I lie on the sofa and dictate.

Laying Lion and Base. (Advertisement for garden statuary)

'Lying Lion' would be more satisfactory grammatically but would suggest dishonesty rather than posture. Lion couchant and base.

Previously we laid in bed on Saturday... (Essentials)

Previously we lay in bed on Saturday...

So far we have considered cases where the verb 'lay' is erroneously used in place of the verb 'lie'. Cases where the converse misuse occurs are slightly less common.

Once patients are calm, lie them on their side with some form of cushion under their head. (Me)

This is advice on dealing with a person in a fit. Once patients are calm, lay them on their side.

'Has anyone fallen sick yet?' I asked the Red Cross lady waiting to one side of the Royal Tea Tent. 'Oh yes,' she said. 'They keep keeling over. We take their hats off and lie them down in a tent, and usually they come round quite quickly and go out again.' (Independent)

It appears that garden party guests at Buckingham Palace get the same treatment. We take their hats off and lay them down in a tent.

Mothers, fathers and carers will be advised to lie young babies on their backs or sides when putting them to sleep in tonight's 30-second slot. (Evening News & Star, Cumbria)

Word order needs attention here. It ought to be made clear that babies are not going to be put to sleep in a very short slot. Mothers, fathers and carers will be advised in tonight's 30-second slot to lay young babies on their backs or sides when putting them to sleep.' 

Comments

[Lisa]

Great post! and your schedule today? join the club!!! Ugh!

[MARK RICKMAN]

I’m probably going to end up in deep doo doo for this but neither you nor my spellchecker can hit me from there and I do regard the exercise as a chance to express my opinion. So, lie as in sleep, lay as in egg, laid as in sex.

That makes me remember the man who said he first met his wife at a dance and she was the most beautiful girl on the floor. He never forgot how lovely she looked lying there.

What matters to me when writing fiction is using conversation to move the story along and since many of my stories involve south and east Londoners ‘as she is spoke’ can be more important than correct grammar. For example, this is a snippet of conversation from my story ‘The Hard Man’:

‘Shame,’ said Sid, looking over his pint at me. ‘It ain’t right not knowing how to look after yerself. Come down to the allotment and I’ll let you have a few pertaters.’
‘Pertaters, Sid?’ I asked, miffed because he hadn’t said how sorry he was about Grace. Everyone I told my story to said how sorry they were they were about Grace, if only to stop me repeating it.
‘You gone mutton in your old age?’ Sid asked.
I sat up and took notice. ‘Mutton, Sid?’
‘Mutt and Jeff, you dozy sod.’
For the first time in a long time, I laughed. ‘No Sid, I ain’t gone deaf. It’s just that it’s been a long time since I heard spuds called pertaters.’
‘Yerse,’ he said, not taking offence. ‘I thought it must be something like that.’

There you have it Steph. While I’m not a rebel, I am inclined to go off at the odd tangent. I hope you’ll let it lie.

Mark
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[Steph]

Lisa... I've caught up with the schedules (although... it is Tuesday evening!).

Mark... just SPLENDID!

[Susan]

What about the schedule schedule where you co-ordinate the other schedules. If you get behind on that, you're screwed ;-)

(Agree vehemently with the rest of your post. Definitely not an error to be taking laying down!)

[Lisa]

Fantastic post!!