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

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

Keeps getting confusing.  My brain hurts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Now_I_Lay_Me_Down_to_Sleep

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Wed, Jul 27, 2016 at 2:12 PM, Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 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
>