The Easy Way to Use Lie, Lay, and Laid
Let’s discuss two of the easier ways to remember how to use the words properly. Since not everyone learns in the same manner, one may suit you better than the other. Either one works, so pick which works best for you.
The Substitution Method
Never again struggle with how to properly use lie, lay, or laid—and even lain. With this simple-to-understand chart, you’ll immediately see if you're using the words properly.
We'll be using a word-substitution process, and we'll be using commonly known words, so it should be simple. By the way, the lesson includes lain but almost nobody uses that word these days, so I don’t mention it much.
Look at the chart, then look at the examples that follow.
Now, let's analyze the chart so that you understand it.
If you’re confused about which version of lie or lay to use simply substitute sit, sat, or set to see which sounds right, then refer to the chart, which shows you which word to use.
Let’s look at a simple example. If you were going to tell your dog to get down on the floor, would you say “Lie down” or would you say “Lay down”?
Since you’re telling your dog to do it now, you need to look at the chart next to lie and lay in the present tense. There are only two options—sit and set.
You wouldn’t tell your dog to “set” down, you’d say “sit” down, so looking at the chart, you’d see the answer is lie. You would tell your dog to “lie” down.
I could go on for pages, but I think that would only confuse things. If you use the chart, it’s easy to determine which word to use by substituting the proper form of sit or set.
Tenses of lie/lay/laid and sit/sat/set
If you were going to write something like "I think I'm going to lay down." Before committing to the word lay, think of how you'd write the sentence if you were using either of the verbs sit or set.
If you are “going to lie/lay down,” it is happening now, which means it’s present tense. Looking at the chart, we see the only option for “resting” in the present tense is lie. So the correct way to write that sentence would be “I think I’m going to lie down.”
When you want to use any of the verbs lie, lay, laid, and lain, think of what you'd say if you were talking about “sitting” or “setting,” and use the appropriate word from the chart.
Now we’re going to look at a few sample sentences before moving on to the next lesson.