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View Full Version : Another stupid Lay vs Lie thing

bluejester12
03-02-2008, 03:02 AM
I'm pretty sure this is right, but it reads weird.


"Hang on to it," she said. I lay next to her and we quietly watched the clouds drift by.
dadburnett
03-02-2008, 04:34 AM
I'm pretty sure this is right, but it reads weird.
"Hang on to it," she said. I lay next to her and we quietly watched the clouds drift by.

It left me wondering are you speaking of the present moment, or is being beside her something that happened in the past or ... is another chicken story ... the hen says I lay, the rooster says, I don't. :-)
Mumut
03-02-2008, 07:32 AM
Lay sounds alright to me. Or is it 'Sounds all right to me'? Or 'Sounds all right by be?' Anyway, I wouldn't lie to you.
ErylRavenwell
03-02-2008, 07:43 AM
It left me wondering are you speaking of the present moment, or is being beside her something that happened in the past or ... is another chicken story ... the hen says I lay, the rooster says, I don't. :-)

It's past tense. It is correct.
ErylRavenwell
03-02-2008, 07:48 AM
Lay sounds alright to me. Or is it 'Sounds all right to me'? Or 'Sounds all right by be?' Anyway, I wouldn't lie to you.

"All right" is formal, "alright" informal.
girlyswot
03-02-2008, 10:19 PM
It's past tense, following 'I said', I presume. In which case it's fine. 'Lay' is the past tense of 'lie' here. 'Laid' would be quite wrong.
dear_swan
06-04-2008, 08:16 PM
oh my goodness, i'm so glad you asked that. I always get muddled up with lay/lie. now i just try to avoid them both altogether!
Matera the Mad
06-05-2008, 07:37 AM
Now, now, just lie quietly while I lay a soothing poultice on your poor head.
MoonWriter
06-05-2008, 08:22 AM
I have all of my characters stand up. BTW, shouldn't it be, he said?
Oberon
06-05-2008, 11:58 PM
The alternative would be "lied" and that would be totally wrong. "He laid his body next to hers. Together they lay there and watched the sunrise. He said, 'I lied to you about the baby, it's still in the crib, it has lain there since midnight.' 'I know,' she said, 'you didn't get laid last night, so you were angry.'" Or something like that. alright?
dadburnett
06-06-2008, 09:15 AM
Now I lay me down to sleep ...
MrWrite
06-07-2008, 12:20 AM
oh my goodness, i'm so glad you asked that. I always get muddled up with lay/lie. now i just try to avoid them both altogether!

Same here Swan! Now I know too! :D
HeronW
06-07-2008, 03:01 AM
am I the only one wondering what he's holding on to? :}