To Students, Can anyone give me all the tenses for the word Lay.
For example: Present Tense: Lay: Unfold the sheet and lay it on the bed.
3 answers from our tutors
Best answer
lay(present) /lie(past) / lied or lain(past participle)
lay,lie,lied,lain;When do we use which? 1.Present Tense;Lay-unfold the blanket and lay it on the floor. Lie-This stuff is pretty grounbreaking,you'd better lie down. Lay refers to a direct object and lie does not. 2.Past Tense;Lay-She laid the blanket on the floor when I asked. Lie-Ifelt sick so I lay down. Here can be a bit tricky because the past tense of lie is lay,but not because there is any overlap between the two verbs. 3.Past participle;Lay-She had laid the blanket down before she left. Lie-I had lain there for sometime before getting up. The past participle form is a common point of error.Many people use lied instead of lain when using the verb lie. 4.Present participle;Lay-I was laying the blanket on the floor. Lie-You've been lyind down all day.
Past tense: Laid: I laid my new blanket on my bed yesterday.
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