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Stenka25 Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Lying vs. laying problem
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In a book, THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, there's a sentence like below.
To me, LAYING sounds strange, and LYING seems better.
? I saw Jane laying on her stomach next to the swimming pool.
[The catcher in the rye - J. D. Salinger]
Of course, I don't think J.D. Salinger made a mistake in the sentence.
But when I googled about this, it seems that LYING is more popular than LAYING.
? I saw him lying on his stomach. [447,000 sentences]
? I saw him laying on his stomach. [79,700 sentences]
So I concluded that though LAYING is still possible, LYING is more often used in this sentence.
Are you agree with that?
In a book, THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, there's a sentence like below.
To me, LAYING sounds strange, and LYING seems better.
? I saw Jane laying on her stomach next to the swimming pool.
[The catcher in the rye - J. D. Salinger]
Of course, I don't think J.D. Salinger made a mistake in the sentence.
But when I googled about this, it seems that LYING is more popular than LAYING.
? I saw him lying on his stomach. [447,000 sentences]
? I saw him laying on his stomach. [79,700 sentences]
So I concluded that though LAYING is still possible, LYING is more often used in this sentence.
Are you agree with that?
Top answer
Of course. But that is the way the character speaks. If Holden did not speak this way, he would be someone else.
- Of course.
- But that is the way the character speaks.
- If Holden did not speak this way, he would be someone else.
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3 Answers
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Of course. But that is the way the character speaks.
If Holden did not speak this way, he would be someone else.
If Holden did not speak this way, he would be someone else.
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Salinger is creating a character by having him say 'laying' instead of the grammatically correct 'lying'. Many native speakers confuse these verbs, and someday they may both be acceptable in formal English in this situation. Now 'lay' is not.
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You must not think that every statement that authors write is grammatically correct. They may introduce errors on purpose. You have to consider that the author of a work of fiction is not necessarily always writing as himself. That is, he is not using his own grammar, but the grammar that his character would have used. The character who is the referent of "I" is the character whose grammar Sal
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