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Gustavo K Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Verb lie
Hello everyone!
I saw two similar example sentences in my dictionary which confused me:
1. He lay in bed thinking about the meeting next day.
2. He was lying on the bed smoking a cigarette.
What I'd like to know is whether we can say lie in bed or lie on the bed without any difference in meaning. Besides, when we say he lay in bed and he was lying in bed, are both one and the same?
I saw two similar example sentences in my dictionary which confused me:
1. He lay in bed thinking about the meeting next day.
2. He was lying on the bed smoking a cigarette.
What I'd like to know is whether we can say lie in bed or lie on the bed without any difference in meaning. Besides, when we say he lay in bed and he was lying in bed, are both one and the same?
Top answer
Gustavo K whether we can say lie in bed or lie on the bed without any difference in meaning. No. There's a difference.
- Gustavo K whether we can say lie in bed or lie on the bed without any difference in meaning.
- No.
- There's a difference.
- in bed is under the covers.
- on the bed is never under the covers.
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2 Answers
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Gustavo Kwhether we can say lie in bed or lie on the bed without any difference in meaning.No. There's a difference. in bed is under the covers. on the bed is never under the covers.
Gustavo Kwhen we say he lay in bed and he was lying in bed, are both one and the same?
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Thanks CJ for your reply.
What I meant to say is if the idea is the same when I say he lay in bed smoking and he was lying in bed smoking. Another similar examples would be:
She stood in the doorway.
She was standing in the doorway.
My dictionary (Longman) says you can use stand to mean be standing up (to support yourself o
What I meant to say is if the idea is the same when I say he lay in bed smoking and he was lying in bed smoking. Another similar examples would be:
She stood in the doorway.
She was standing in the doorway.
My dictionary (Longman) says you can use stand to mean be standing up (to support yourself o
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