[Magdalen] Fwd: Whither to lie and to lay?

[Grace Cangialosi]

I haven't read all of this thread, but here's my take on this: Lie, and its past tense, Lay, do not take an object. So, "I will lie down on the bed now, but last night I lay on the bed."
(Then there's the form "I have lain here since yesterday," but that is almost never used.

Trouble is, "Lay" is also the present tense of the verb requiring an object: "Please lay the book over there." The past tense of that is "laid."  "Yesterday I laid the book over there."
Clear as mud, no?

> On Jul 27, 2016, at 11:27 AM, Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I used to think I knew the difference but recently heard a contrary
> explanation (especially of the past tense, such as "I lay down and
> then fell asleep."
> 
> So now I feel I'm on thin ice with my own understanding. Is it this?
> 
> Lay implies motion; lie implies a stationary state - Lay down over
> there, and then lie there for a few minutes.
> 
> Past: I lay there for an hour and then woke up.
> 
> On Wed, Jul 27, 2016 at 9:42 AM, Cantor03--- via Magdalen
> <magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:
>> It's interesting to reflect that my parents (a farm boy from Minnesota  and
>> a daughter of Norwegian immigrants) never misused who/whom and  never
>> confused to lie and to lay.  The result of that is that I do not  misuse
>> them
>> either.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Scott R. Knitter
> Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA