Master confusing words with ease
Lay vs. Lie
Lay
/leɪ/Examples:
He showed us into a long dining-room where breakfast was laid.The studio is hysterical about the picture laying an egg.He lays for a stranger, and he fetches that stranger.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Lie
/laɪ/Examples:
Then suddenly, a lovelier object lay lifeless on the ground.The sick woman was lying on the ground.Herein lies a new revelation, a new language, a direct symbolism.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Ways to tell them apart:
- Lay requires a direct object to act upon, while lie does not.
- Think of lay as placing something, and lie as reclining yourself.
- Lay is the present tense, and its past tense is laid, whereas lie is present tense and its past tense is lay.
- You lay an object down but you lie down yourself.
- To avoid confusion, remember: you lie down by yourself, but lay requires something else to be laid.
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