How often have you heard someone say “I’m going to lay down
for a rest”, when they should really have said “lie down”?
The confusion arises because lay can mean either the past tense
of lie, or be the transitive verb equivalent of the intransitive verb lie.
Thus: “I will lie here until dinner time”, but “I lay on the
bed for an hour after lunch”.
A transitive verb always takes an object, whereas an intransitive
verb does not, so that you have to lay something – you can lay the table, or a hen
can lay an egg!
An easy way to remember this is: “Lay down the law and lie
on the floor”!
© John Welford
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