Lay, Lie, Lied, Lain: When Do We Use Which?

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Kathleen Lohnes was an editorial intern at Encyclopaedia Britannica in 2017 and 2018. She received her bachelor’s degree in philosophy and creative writing in 2020 at the University of Iowa.

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.

Ah, the English language. It’s so full of extraneous words and rules, so fantastically complicated and confusing. One of the many common misunderstandings within the language stems from the confusion between lay and lie.

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” (or “to make an untrue statement,” but we’ll focus on the first definition). In other words, lay takes a direct object, and lie does not. As for the misconceptions, well, when you look at the two verbs next to each other in different tenses, it becomes a bit more obvious where the confusion is.

Present Tense:

Lay: Unfold the blanket and lay it on the floor.

Lie: This stuff is pretty groundbreaking; you’d better lie down.

The difference in the present tense seems pretty straightforward: lay refers to a direct object, and lie does not.

Past Tense:

Lay: She laid the blanket on the floor when I asked.

Lie: I felt sick, so I lay down.

Here’s where it can get a bit tricky. The past tense of lie is lay, but not because there is any overlap between the two verbs. So when you say, “I lay down for a nap,” you’re actually using the verb lie, not lay, despite the way it sounds.

Past Participle:

Lay: She had laid the blanket down before she left.

Lie: I had lain there for some time before getting up.

The past participle form is a common point of error. Many people accidentally use lied instead of lain when using the verb lie. Lied, however, refers to the past tense and past participle form of lie when it means “to make an untrue statement.”

Present participle:

Lay: I was laying the blanket on the floor.

Lie: You’ve been lying down all day.

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. If there is, then use a form of lay. A classroom trick is to say the word out loud. The a sound in lay sounds like the one in place, as in to place an object, whereas the i sound in lie sounds like the one in recline, as in to recline on a sofa. Another way to help you decide is to remember that lay will typically be followed by a noun, whereas lie will typically be followed by the word down.