Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style

by Benjamin Dreyer

One notes that “lay” is a transitive verb, which means that it demands an object. A transitive verb doesn’t merely do; it must do to something. One does not merely lay; one lays a thing.*21 I lay my hands on a long-sought volume of poetry. I lay blame on a convenient stooge. I lay (if I am a hen) an egg.*22 What does this mean to you? Well, for a start: If you’re hesitating between “lie” and “lay” and (a) your sentence has a thing to act upon and (b) you can replace the verb you’re in a quandary about with a less confusingly transitive verb like “place,” you need a “lay.” “Lie,” on the other hand, is an intransitive verb. I lie, period. Works for both recumbence and fibbing. No object needed. “Lie” can handle an adverb (I lie down, I lie badly) or a place on which to do it (I lie on the couch); it just doesn’t need a thing, a what, attached to it. Unfortunately, both verbs can and must be conjugated, and this is where the trouble kicks in. Let’s run through them, tensely. to lay present lay I lay the bowl on the table. present participle laying I am laying the bowl on the table. past laid Earlier, I laid the bowl on the table. past participle laid I have laid the bowl on the table. to lie (in the sense of to recline)*23 present lie I lie down. present participle lying Look at me: I am lying down. past lay Yesterday, I lay down. past participle lain Look at me: I have lain down. That the past participle of “lie” is “lain,” which never looks right to anyone, is bad enough. T...