Don't sweat the commas, quote marks, and em dashes—oh my! I take care of those, while you focus on the writing. But I thought some posts about a few common words or rules I often see misunderstood could be useful. If you get these down, you save that much more time on revisions—plus you feel smart.
At the top of the list is the use of lay/lie (as in recline, not fib). I really just had to memorize this, but lots of practice has made noticing and fixing these errors instinctual.
One memory trick that might be helpful is thinking of a chicken. After laying an egg a hen needs to lie down. Lay will include an object (egg). Lie happens to the self (chicken thighs help her lie).
 |
| Click to see source—and an incorrect use of "lay" in post title! |
My brain's shortcut is focusing on the "a." If I see lay or laid I ask: Can I replace this with "put"? If yes, then it's right as lay/laid and we'll also find an object in use. If not, I know the correct word will be in the lie/lay/lain/lying group.
"I lay on my bed with my hands behind my head."
Brain: "I [put] on my bed with my hands behind my head." Nope. So "lay" is correct. (Not "I laid on my bed...")
"I laid my doll down on my bed with its arms behind its head."
Brain: "I [put] my doll down..." Yep! (Again, the presence of an object being placed/put somewhere is a big clue for lay/laid/laid.)
I'd say the main reason the use of reclining lie/lay/lain is so tricky is because the past tense is "lay," which is, obviously, the present tense of "lay." Plus everybody just uses "lay" incorrectly, so it sounds right because of usage.
THESE ARE WRONG (parenthetical is right):
- Just go lay down and stop whining. (Just go lie down...)
- We gotta lay low and stay quiet. (We gotta lie low... Sounds so wrong, right? But "lie" is right in this case! If you wanna say "lay low" it's for "this flu laid me low" and "the wind will likely lay low the trees"—notice those objects again that you always see with "lay." Wait, Emily, "me" can be an object? To the flu, indeed. Also to yourself! "Now I lay me down to sleep...")
- Can I lay by your side? (Can I lie by your side?)
- You were laying there for two hours without sunblock, you dense lobster. (You were lying there...)
- You laid right next to him and didn't even realize? (You lay right next to him...)
- If you had laid there any longer, you'd be toast. (If you had lain there...)
The verbs group in these tenses (present/past/past perfect/past & present participle):
lie/lay/lain/lying—the chicken's body is reclining (she's lying in the coop)
lay/laid/laid/laying—the chicken causes an object to transfer to resting (lays an egg)
Let me show the difference for each word in similar sentences.
You're not well. Go lie down on your sleeping bag.
You're not well. Go lay down your sleeping bag and rest.
He lay awake for four hours before he gave up, got up, and shuffled to the bathroom.
He laid his phone on the bedside table, leaned out of bed with a groan, and shuffled to the bathroom.
There was a rusty stain where the body had lain.
There was a rusty stain where the killers had laid the body.
I wanna get laid, man.
I want to lie with her, if you catch my drift.
You're going to lie around all day? // You're going to lay bricks all day?
You were lying about all day. // The hens were laying eggs all day.
You lay about all day yesterday. // You laid yesterday's mail on the counter.
Your chores would be done today if you hadn't lain about all day yesterday. // Your chores would be done today if you hadn't laid bricks all day yesterday.
Finally, if you don't like how it sounds, reword it! Because "He follows my lead and lies like a starfish next to me" sounds weird, try this: "He plops down beside me and spreads out like a starfish." In my opinion, almost every instance of "lay" that I correct would sound better/stronger reworded. So go ahead and do a global search for your " lay" and " laid" instances (note the space between the word and the open quote; include that) and see if you can find a stronger way to word it. And if not, then make sure you've got the correct word by following my tips!
