Practice
Lie down or lay down: choose the correct verb
Sign in to saveAfter a long walk, you might need to lie down. Before dinner, you might lay the plates down on the table. The sound is similar, but the verb changes because the action changes.
Choose lie or lay by deciding whether a person or thing rests by itself or someone places an object somewhere.
Read and practice
Read the examples and try the written questions in this guide. Listening recordings are not available for this lesson yet.
Try the written questions
I need to lie down, so please lay the book on the table. /aɪ niːd tə laɪ daʊn səʊ pliːz leɪ ðə bʊk ɒn ðə ˈteɪbl/
The short answer
Use lie down when you rest in a horizontal position and no object receives the action. Use lay down when you put an object somewhere. The present forms are lie and lay, but the past forms are lay and laid.
I need to lie down for ten minutes.
Why it works: The speaker is resting. There is no object after lie, so lie down is the natural choice.
5 more examples
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I need to lie down after the flight.
The speaker is going to rest, and the sentence has no object after the verb.
Not this:Please
lay your coat downon the chair. What changes: Your coat is the object that someone places on the chair, so lay is needed. -
Yesterday, I lay down before the meeting.
Lay is the past form of lie when a person rested.
Not this:Yesterday, I
laid the papers downon the desk. What changes: Laid is the past form of lay when a person put the papers somewhere. -
The cat has lain beside the radiator all morning.
Lain is the past participle of lie for resting in a position.
Not this:She
has laidthe clean towels on the shelf. What changes: Laid is the past participle when someone has placed the towels. -
The children are lying on the grass.
Lying describes the children resting on the grass.
Not this:The volunteer
is layingthe mats on the grass. What changes: The mats are objects that the volunteer is putting in place. -
The map lies flat inside the folder.
The map is already in a flat position; no one is placing an object in this sentence.
Not this:Sam
lays the map flaton the table. What changes: Sam places the map, so the verb has the object the map.
Read the full guide
Ask one question before you choose the verb: what is being put somewhere? If the answer is a book, a phone, a baby, or another object, use lay. If a person or animal is resting, use lie. For a past action, remember the unusual pair: yesterday I lay down, but yesterday I laid the book down.
Start with the action
Use lie when a person or thing is already resting in a position. Use lay when a person causes an object to rest somewhere. The two verbs do different jobs, so meaning comes before spelling.
Mina lies on the sofa after work.
Mina rests by herself, so use lies. In Mina lays her bag on the sofa, the bag is the object that she places.
Which verb describes resting: lie or lay?
Use lie for resting: I need to lie down.
Look for an object after lay
Lay usually needs an object. The object is the thing that someone puts down: lay the keys down, lay the baby in the cot, or lay a blanket on the ground. If nothing receives the action, lie is usually the verb you need.
Please lay the receipt beside the computer.
The receipt receives the action. Compare Please lie beside the computer, which asks a person to rest there.
Choose the verb: Could you ___ the folder on my desk?
Use lay because the folder is the object being placed: Could you lay the folder on my desk?
Learn the present and past forms
The confusing part is the past. Lie meaning rest changes to lay in the past: Today I lie down; yesterday I lay down. Lay meaning put changes to laid: Today I lay the book down; yesterday I laid the book down.
After the early shift, Noor lay down for an hour.
Noor rested, so lay is the past of lie. In Noor laid her uniform on the chair, laid is needed because she placed the uniform.
Which past form fits: Last night, we ___ the menus on each table.
Use laid. The menus are objects that were placed on the tables.
Use lain and laid after have
After have, has, or had, use lain for the resting meaning and laid for the placing meaning. Lain may look unfamiliar, but it belongs to lie: has lain down. Laid stays the same for the placing verb: has laid the documents down.
I have lain awake since five o'clock.
The speaker has been in a resting position. In I have laid the tickets by the door, the tickets are objects placed somewhere.
Complete the sentence: The dog has ___ under the table all afternoon.
Use lain. The dog has rested under the table, so this is the lie pattern.
Check the -ing forms
Use lying for a person or animal that is resting, and laying for someone who is placing an object. The spelling changes in lying because lie loses its final e before -ing. Lay simply adds -ing.
Your jacket is lying on the floor.
The jacket is already there. In You are laying your jacket on the floor, a person is putting it there.
Which word fits: The nurse is ___ a clean sheet on the bed.
Use laying because the nurse is placing the sheet on the bed.
Keep the two meanings of lie separate
Lie can also mean say something false. That verb has the forms lie, lied, lied, and lying. Do not mix it with lie meaning rest, which has the forms lie, lay, lain, and lying. The sentence meaning tells you which verb family to use.
He lied about the address.
Lied means said something false. He lay on the sofa means rested on the sofa.
Does lied describe resting or saying something false?
Lied describes saying something false. Use lay for the past of lie meaning rest.
Before you go
Remember this
Use lie for resting without an object: lie down now, lay down yesterday, and have lain down. Use lay for putting something somewhere: lay the phone down now, laid it down yesterday, and have laid it down. Check whether the sentence names an object that someone places.
Practice with the written examples
You can practice with the written questions in the Learn tab. Each answer includes an explanation.
Try the written questionsListening test not available yet
This lesson does not have the recordings needed for a listening test. Use the written questions in the guide to check your understanding.
Try the written questionsQuestions about "Lie down or lay down: choose the correct verb"
Should I say I need to lie down or I need to lay down?
Say I need to lie down when you mean that you need to rest. The verb has no object because you are describing your own position. Use lay down when you put something somewhere, such as lay your coat down on a chair.
I need to lie down after the flight.
Why is the past of lie sometimes lay?
Lie meaning rest has the forms lie, lay, lain, and lying. That means yesterday I lay down is correct when you rested. This lay is different from the present verb lay, which means put something somewhere.
Please lay your coat down on the chair.
When do I use laid?
Use laid as the past form and past participle of lay meaning put or place. It normally has an object, as in She has laid the clean towels on the shelf. Use lay, not laid, for a person who rested yesterday.
Yesterday, I lay down before the meeting.
What is the difference between lying and laying?
Use lying when a person, animal, or thing is resting in a position: The children are lying on the grass. Use laying when someone is putting an object somewhere: The volunteer is laying the mats on the grass.
Yesterday, I laid the papers down on the desk.
Is lied the past form of lie?
Lied is the past form of lie when it means say something false: He lied about the address. For lie meaning rest, the past form is lay. The two verbs have the same spelling in the present but different meanings and forms.
The cat has lain beside the radiator all morning.