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Rotter Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Lie is transitive
1.She was lying asleep on the sofa when the telephone rang.
2.You should not lie out in the sun for hours.
I can lay the table for dinner. [ Here the verb lay is clearly a transitive one.]
Generally the verb lie is intransitive whereas the verb lay is transitive.
In my 1st and 2nd sentences the verb lie is transitive, as far as I understand them.
For me, they are correct sentences. My question is on the verb lie is in those 2 sentences. Are they fine?
They are transitive, aren't they?
It is incorrect to write the verb lie as transitive. What do you think?
2.You should not lie out in the sun for hours.
I can lay the table for dinner. [ Here the verb lay is clearly a transitive one.]
Generally the verb lie is intransitive whereas the verb lay is transitive.
In my 1st and 2nd sentences the verb lie is transitive, as far as I understand them.
For me, they are correct sentences. My question is on the verb lie is in those 2 sentences. Are they fine?
They are transitive, aren't they?
It is incorrect to write the verb lie as transitive. What do you think?
Top answer
In my grammar the verb has no object in sentences 1 and 2. Therefore the verbs are intransitive. For lie to be transitive, the sentences would have to read: 1.
- In my grammar the verb has no object in sentences 1 and 2.
- Therefore the verbs are intransitive.
- For lie to be transitive, the sentences would have to read: 1.
- She was lying the sofa when the telephone rang.
- 2.
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5 Answers
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In my grammar the verb has no object in sentences 1 and 2. Therefore the verbs are intransitive. For lie to be transitive, the sentences would have to read:
1. She was lying the sofa when the telephone rang.
2. You should not lie the sun for hours.
Now the verbs have an
1. She was lying the sofa when the telephone rang.
2. You should not lie the sun for hours.
Now the verbs have an
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I don't think a verb is considered transitive when it needs to be followed by a preposition to take an object. In that sense you could call almost any verb transitive.
"to die" is clearly intransitive (you can't die someone or something), but you could still say "My grandpa died on the sofa", can't you?....
"to die" is clearly intransitive (you can't die someone or something), but you could still say "My grandpa died on the sofa", can't you?....
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Sentences 1. and 2. are correct, and the verb "lie" is intransitive, whereas the verb "lay" is transitive. Note however that the verb "lay" is often used in place of "lie". The following are commonly heard in the US (indeed they are the preferred usage today in casual speech, even though technically speaking they are grammatically incorrect): She was laying asleep on the sofa when the telephone
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a transitive usage which in fact must be considered an ungrammatical colloquialism.
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AnonymousNote however that the verb "lay" is often used in place of "lie".Let's hope you are merely mentioning this rather than recommending it.
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