I was just reading Choosing the Correct Word: Clearing Up Common Confusions on About.com.
The only one I have trouble with, and that I've never quite wrapped my head around is the lay/lie rule.
18. lay, lie
The verb lay means "to put"; it takes a direct object. The verb lie means "to rest"; it does not take a direct object. Don't confuse the past and past participle forms of these verbs:
LAY (present), laid (past), and laid (past participle)
LIE (present), lay (past), and lain (past participle)
Examples:The pumpkin that I had laid on the porch lay there for a month.Practice:
(a) The cat always _____ curled up under the table.
(b) Don't shout when you _____ your cards down.
(c) Linda _____ down for a nap after yoga last night.
The answers are provided at the end of the article. The answers for this particular exercise:
18. (a) lies; (b) lay; (c) lay
So my 'problem' is with (c) Linda lay down for a nap after yoga last night.
Why does this feel so WRONG to me? (Linda layed down feels right... but OOPS I just read that Layed is a misspelling and does not exist.. How embarrassing!) Is it because everyone else gets it wrong so I've learned it wrong from the beginning? Does it sound weird to you too? Do you have problems with lie/lay when you're writting? I personally try to avoid lie/lay altogether as to not embarrass myself most of the time LOL
Okay now I have Layla stuck in my head. As in the Eric Clapton song.
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2 comments:
I learned all this once in high school, I think our textbook even devoted an entire chapter to this dilemma. Not that I always pay attention to it when talking. It feels weird to me, too, mainly because most verbs in past tense end with a -d of some sort. So to not have that makes it sound wrong, because it doesn't sound like all the other words I know :-)
It definately sounds weird to me too...but I never was that good in English so I'm not a good example! lol
Really though...I would've said layed too.
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