Rant
by Zia ~ July 15th, 2005. Filed under: Exigencies.No, it’s not that Harry Potter has not arrived, although that irks me too. It’s one of my pet peeves: the use of lay when it should be lie. And it’s EVERYWHERE.
“Lay down, Spot!”
“I’m going to lay down and read now.”
“Do you have any extra reading glasses laying around?
AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!
So what’s the difference between the two? Basically this: lay requires a direct object while lie does not. (In grammatical parlance, lay is a transitive verb while lie is an intransitive one.)
“Spot lay his slobbery green tennis ball at my feet.” (object=ball)
“I’m going to lay the blanket on the bed.” (object=blanket)
“She will then lay the damn glasses on top of the blanket. (object=damn glasses)
The only exception, of course, is when you’re using the past tense of lie, which is also lay. Confused? You needn’t be. Just consider the following.
LIE
Simple present: Spot lies at my feet.
Simple past: Spot lay on my feet last night, which was uncomfortable.
LAY
Simple present: She lay the glasses on the table.
Simple past: Unfortunately, she forgot she laid them there.
Actually, this rant reminds me of a wonderful pair of grammar books, oh what were they called … that’s it! The Transitive Vampire and The Well-Tempered Sentence.
Speaking of which, where are my copies?