Lie vs Lay (Laid, Lain): How to Choose the Right Verb

Lie means to be in a flat position, or to move into one: I lie on the sofa. Lay means to put something down: I lay the book on the table. So lay always needs an object (the thing you put down), and lie never takes one. That part is easy. The trouble starts in the past, because the past tense of lie is lay: Yesterday I lay on the sofa, not Yesterday I laid on the sofa. This guide gives you the lie, lay, laid, lain chart, three quick tests, answers to the questions people search most (lie or lay in bed? Is the cat lying or laying?), the mistakes to avoid and three short exercises with answers. Lie and lay are only one pair of English verbs that people mix up: rise and raise, fall and feel and find and found are on the easily confused verbs page with exercises.

1.Lie vs lay: the difference in one sentence

You lie down yourself. You lay something else down.

	lie	lay
Meaning	be or get into a flat position	put something down (carefully, flat)
Object?	no: lie on the bed	yes: lay the baby on the bed
Who moves?	the subject itself	the subject moves something else
Example	The dog lies by the door.	She lays her keys by the door.

A useful way to remember it: lay means "make something lie". If you lay a book on the table, the book then lies there. English has a few pairs like this, where one verb is the "make it happen" version of the other: rise and raise (make something rise), sit and set, fall and fell (make a tree fall).

2.Lie, lay, laid, lain: the chart

Here are all the forms. The second row is the reason this topic exists: lay is both the present of lay and the past of lie.

Verb	Base form	he / she / it	-ing form	Past Simple	Past participle
lie (be flat)	lie	lies	lying	lay	lain
lay (put down)	lay	lays	laying	laid	laid
lie (say something untrue)	lie	lies	lying	lied	lied

So the full answer to "lay vs lie vs laid vs lain" is:

• lie, lay, lain: I lie down. I lay down an hour ago. I have lain here all morning.
• lay, laid, laid: I lay the table. I laid the table. I have laid the table.

Lie (be flat) is irregular. Lay is spelt laid, never layed, which is why verb lists put it with the irregular verbs. Lie (tell a lie) is regular. Learn the three as a set, the way they are in the chart.

Watch the spelling of the -ing forms: lying (lie → ly + ing, like die → dying) and laying (just add -ing). There is no lieing and no laing.

3.When to use lie

Use lie when the subject is (or gets) flat, and nobody is putting anything anywhere. There's never an object right after it, only a place or a word like down.

• I need to lie down for ten minutes.
• She was lying on the beach when her phone rang.
• He lay awake all night, thinking about the exam.
• The kids have lain in the sun too long. Look at their shoulders!

Lie is also used for things, to say where they are, and for abstract ideas:

• Your glasses are lying on the kitchen table.
• The village lies at the foot of the mountains.
• The problem lies in the design, not the software.
• Snow lay on the ground for weeks.

Lain sounds formal, and in everyday speech people often avoid it with the Present Perfect Continuous: The letter has been lying on my desk for a week is more natural than The letter has lain on my desk for a week. Both are correct.

4.When to use lay

Use lay when you put something or someone down. The object comes straight after the verb.

• Could you lay the baby on the bed, please?
• He laid his coat over the chair.
• They're laying a new carpet in the hall.
• Have you laid the table yet? (British English for set the table)

Some common phrases with lay:

• lay eggs: Our hens laid six eggs today. With this meaning lay can stand alone: The hens aren't laying this week.
• lay the foundations (also figuratively): This course lays the foundations for B2.
• lay off (dismiss workers): The factory laid off 200 people.
• lay out (spread out, arrange): She laid out her clothes for the next day.

Because lay has an object, it can go into the passive. Lie can't: The new floor was laid in two days. There is no passive of lie.

5.Lay as the past of lie: the hardest part

Most real mistakes happen here. People know that lay means "put down", so when they need the past of lie they reach for laid. Compare the two verbs across time:

	lie (no object)	lay (+ object)
Present	I lie on the floor to stretch.	I lay a towel on the floor.
Past	Yesterday I lay on the floor.	Yesterday I laid a towel on the floor.
Present Perfect	I have lain on the floor for ten minutes.	I have laid a towel on the floor.

The word lay appears in both columns, but with a different meaning. To decide, look at the time and the object. Yesterday + no object = past of lie = lay. Yesterday + an object = past of lay = laid.

6.Three quick tests for lie or lay

1. The "something" test. Can you put something or it straight after the verb? I'm going to ___ it down works, so it's lay. If the sentence is about the subject itself (I'm going to ___ down), it's lie.
2. The "put" test. Replace the verb with put or place. If the sentence still works, use lay: Put the plates on the table → lay the plates. If recline or rest fits better, use lie.
3. The letter trick. lay = place (both have an a), lie = recline (both have an i).

After the test, check the tense. The test tells you which verb, and the chart tells you which form: lie in the past is lay, lay in the past is laid.

7.Lie down or lay down? Questions people ask

Do you lie or lay in bed?

You lie in bed: I like to lie in bed on Sunday mornings. In the past: I lay in bed until ten. You only lay something in bed: She laid the sleeping child in bed.

Is it "lie down" or "lay down"?

Lie down when you mean yourself: I'm tired, I'm going to lie down. Lay down needs an object: Lay your bags down here. In casual American English many native speakers say I'm going to lay down, and song titles like Lay, Lady, Lay or Lay Down Sally make it sound normal. It's very common in speech, but it's still marked as wrong in exams, essays and careful writing, so use lie down. The old prayer line Now I lay me down to sleep is correct: me is the object of lay.

Is the cat lying or laying?

The cat is lying on the sofa. It isn't putting anything down. Laying is only right if there's an object, or for birds that produce eggs: The chicken is laying.

Which is correct: "I lied down" or "I lay down"?

I lay down. Lied is the past of the other lie (say something untrue). I lied down mixes up the two verbs, and I laid down is the past of lay, which would need an object: I laid my phone down.

Lie low or lay low?

Lie low (stay hidden, avoid attention) is the traditional form: After the scandal, the minister lay low for a few months. Lay low is very common, especially in American English, but lie low is the safe choice in writing. Similarly, British English says the lie of the land and American English the lay of the land (how a situation is arranged).

8.The other lie: lie, lied, lied

There is a second verb lie that has nothing to do with being flat: it means "say something that isn't true". It's regular: lie, lied, lied, and its -ing form is also lying.

• He lied about his age to get the job.
• Stop lying to me!
• Have you ever lied to a teacher?

This sentence uses both verbs: She lay on the sofa all afternoon and lied about doing her homework. If you can say told a lie, you need lied. If you can say was flat, you need lay.

9.Common lie and lay mistakes

1. I'm going to lay down for an hour. → I'm going to lie down for an hour. No object, so lie.
2. Yesterday I laid on the beach all day. → Yesterday I lay on the beach all day. The past of lie is lay.
3. He lied down on the sofa. → He lay down on the sofa. Lied is only for untrue words.
4. Lie the baby on her back. → Lay the baby on her back. The baby is an object, so lay.
5. She has laid in hospital for a week. → She has been lying in hospital for a week. (or has lain, more formal) The past participle of lie is lain.
6. He layed the cards on the table. → He laid the cards on the table. Lay is irregular in spelling: laid, never layed.
7. The cat is lieing on my laptop. → The cat is lying on my laptop. Lie drops the e: lying.

If your first language uses one reflexive verb. Many languages say "put yourself down" for lying down: German sich hinlegen, French s'allonger, Spanish tumbarse, Italian sdraiarsi, Portuguese deitar-se. English doesn't use a reflexive here. It switches verb: I lie down, not I lay myself down in everyday English. And where your language describes the position with a simple present or a participle (German ich liege, Italian sono sdraiato), English uses the continuous: I'm lying on the sofa (right now), not I lie on the sofa or I'm laid on the sofa (which would mean someone put you there).

10.Lie vs lay exercises (with answers)

Exercise 1: choose the correct word

1. Don't just (lie / lay) there, come and help me!
2. Could you (lie / lay) the plates on the table, please?
3. I was so tired last night that I (lay / laid) on the sofa and fell asleep.
4. She (lay / laid) her coat on the chair and sat down.
5. The dog is (lying / laying) in the sun.
6. Our chickens are (lying / laying) well this spring.
7. The letter had (lain / laid) unopened on his desk for weeks.
8. The workers have (lain / laid) the new floor in the kitchen.
9. He (lay / lied) to his boss about being ill.
10. Venice (lies / lays) on a lagoon in the north-east of Italy.

Answers (click to open)

1: lie (no object: you are flat)
2: lay (object: the plates)
3: lay (past of lie, no object)
4: laid (past of lay, object: her coat)
5: lying (the dog is flat, no object)
6: laying (producing eggs)
7: lain (past participle of lie)
8: laid (past participle of lay, object: the new floor)
9: lied (said something untrue)
10: lies (position of a place)

Exercise 2: put lie (be flat) or lay (put down) in the correct form

1. I usually ___ down for half an hour after lunch.
2. Last night she ___ the baby in the cot and turned off the light.
3. When I got home, my brother was ___ on the floor playing video games.
4. He ___ in bed until noon last Sunday.
5. Please ___ your phones face down on the table.
6. Those documents have ___ in that drawer for years.
7. They ___ the foundations of the house last month.
8. The doctor asked me to ___ on my back.

Answers (click to open)

1: lie
2: laid
3: lying
4: lay
5: lay
6: lain (in speech, "have been lying" is more common)
7: laid
8: lie

Exercise 3: correct the mistakes (two sentences are correct)

1. I'm going to lay down for a while.
2. She laid the map on the table and pointed at the river.
3. After the run he laid on the grass to rest.
4. The cat has been laying on my laptop all morning.
5. The cables were laid under the road last year.
6. He lied down on the sofa and closed his eyes.

Answers (click to open)

1: I'm going to lie down for a while.
2: correct (laid + object: the map)
3: After the run he lay on the grass to rest.
4: The cat has been lying on my laptop all morning.
5: correct (passive of lay)
6: He lay down on the sofa and closed his eyes.

11.What to practise next

If you got the past forms wrong, go back to the chart and say the two rows out loud a few times: lie, lay, lain and lay, laid, laid. Then practise lie and lay together with the other pairs learners mix up, like rise and raise or fall and feel, in the confusing verbs exercises with audio. Each GrammarTrack task tells you why an answer is wrong. For the rest of the irregular past forms, try Irregular Verbs Part I.