Lie or lay down?

Question

What is correct: "And after we will lay down on the warm sand and let the sun warm our bodies" or "And after (that) we will lie down on the warm sand and let the sun warm our bodies"?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]What is correct: "And after we will lay down on the warm sand and let the sun warm our bodies" or "And after (that) we will lie down on the warm sand and let the sun warm our bodies"?[/nq]
We will lie down.
1. Lie: to be in or move into a horizontal position on a surface.

present: I lie on the bed every afternoon.
future: I will lie on the couch later.
but confusingly
simple past: I lay on the ground last night.
2. Lay: to put (something) in a flat or horizontal position, usuallycarefully or for a particular purpose
present: Now I lay the rug on the floor.
future: I will lay your coat on the bed.
simple past: I laid paper on the floor while I painted the walls.

Usenet · Answer

"contrex" (Email Removed) skrev i meddelelsen
[nq:2]What is correct: "And after we will lay down on ... the warm sand and let the sun warm our bodies"?[/nq]
[nq:1]We will lie down. 1. Lie: to be in or move into a horizontal position on a surface. present: I ... will lay your coat on the bed. simple past: I laid paper on the floor while I painted the walls.[/nq]
I thought so - thanx!

Usenet · Answer

"contrex" (Email Removed) skrev i meddelelsen
[nq:2]What is correct: "And after we will lay down on ... the warm sand and let the sun warm our bodies"?[/nq]
[nq:1]We will lie down. 1. Lie: to be in or move into a horizontal position on a surface. present: I ... will lay your coat on the bed. simple past: I laid paper on the floor while I painted the walls.[/nq]
A follow up:
Simon and Garfunkel once sang: "I will lay me down". This must be ungrammatical, then?
(The song was: "Bridge over Troubled Water")

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]We will lie down. 1. Lie: to be in or ... laid paper on the floor while I painted the walls.[/nq]
[nq:1]A follow up: Simon and Garfunkel once sang: "I will lay me down". This must be ungrammatical, then? (The song was: "Bridge over Troubled Water")[/nq]
Not so. We've avoided terminology so far, but the issue is whether a given verb does or does not take a direct object. "Lie" ordinarily does not take a direct obkect, and it therefore belongs, by definition. to the class of verbs called "intransitive." "Lay" ordinarily does take a direct object, and it therefore belongs, again by definition, to the class of verbs called "transitive." In Simon's song, the direct object of "lay" is "me", so the verb, possessed as it is of a direct object, is by definition transitive, and "lay," not "lie," is the pertinent transitive verb. Changing it to "lie" would create an error where none now exists.
What's archaic about "I will lay me down" is not the verb but the pronoun. In contemporary English the reflexive form would be used there: "I will lay myself down." But the verb "lay" in that position is both gramamtically correct and idiomatic. "Lie myself down" is an error, possibly a hypercorrection.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]We will lie down. 1. Lie: to be in or ... laid paper on the floor while I painted the walls.[/nq]
[nq:1]A follow up: Simon and Garfunkel once sang: "I will lay me down". This must be ungrammatical, then? (The song was: "Bridge over Troubled Water")[/nq]
No. It is grammatical.
In that example "me" is the object of the transitive verb "lay". As contrex has said that use of "me" is obsolete/archaic.

Today a reflexive pronoun would be used: "I will lay myself down". But even that construction is now unusual.

Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.english.usage)

Lie or lay down?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions