And if you are in the process of telling an untruth you are lying and not laying.
Laying vs lying on the floor.
They are laying pipes under the road.
If you tell an untruth it is a lie not a lay.
Beyond the present tense the pair can become more confusing because lay is the past tense of lie and laid is the.
Laying vs lying laying is a verb that is active and requires someone to put someone else or something to rest or in a reclining position.
Let s master the present tense first.
Here is a mnemonic from the website primility to help you tell laying and lying apart.
To say something untrue in order to benefit.
The i becomes a y.
A classroom trick is to say the word out loud.
She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.
The hen is laying eggs implies the hen is working to produce eggs.
Bob is lying on the sofa your dog is lying on the doormat helen picked up the crying baby who was lying in the crib.
Lay means to place something down flat while lie means to be in a flat position on a surface the key difference is that lay is transitive and requires an object to act upon and lie is intransitive describing something moving on its own or already in position.
Grammar and spelling tips don t mix up lie and lay you lay something as in.
Definition of lie 1.
The present participle of lie is not lieing.
Your best bet when deciding between the variations of lay and lie is to determine whether there is a direct object you re referring to.
The project involved laying an oil pipeline across the desert.
A she is lying on the floor.
I was laying the blanket on the floor.
Most reptiles reproduce by laying eggs on land.
Laying vs lying examples.
The important distinction is that lay requires a direct object and lie does not.
Lay is a verb that commonly means to put or set something down lie is a verb that commonly means to be in or to assume a horizontal position.
Let s start with the definitions of lie and lay.
So you lie down on the mat no direct object but you lay the mat down on the floor the mat is the.
B she is laying on the floor.
They are going to lay the carpet.
Sentences such as the following ones are wrong.
Let us help you solve the mystery behind the lie and lay rules.
They are laying green paint on the wall and white paint on the ceiling.
Lying and laying.
You ve been lying down all day.