Lying down puts your body in a horizontal position. It does not necessarily mean falling asleep: Omar's eyes remain open in the example.

The idea

For careful standard English, learn lie – lay – lain, with lying: the person lies down without an object. To place something down, use lay – laid – laid, with laying, plus an object.

Examples

  • Lea lay down on the picnic blanket.
  • I want to lie down for ten minutes.
  • Omar is lying down with his eyes open.
  • The dog lay down beside the empty basket.
  • Mina laid the folded blanket down on the bench.
  • Please lie down on your back.

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Watch out

Lay is both the past of lie and the base form of a different verb. Lied is the past of lie meaning say something untrue; it is not the past for resting horizontally.

Try it yourself

  1. Choose the correct option. Yesterday Lea ___ down on the blanket. (lay / lied)

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    lay

    For resting horizontally, the past of lie is lay, not lied.

  2. Choose the correct option. Omar is ___ down with his eyes open. (lying / laying)

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    lying

    The -ing form of lie is lying; laying belongs to the verb that places an object.

  3. Choose the correct option. Mina ___ the folded blanket down yesterday. (laid / lay)

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    laid

    The blanket is the object being placed, so the past is laid.

Use it today

Write where someone lay down yesterday. Then describe an object they laid down nearby, making the object clear in your sentence.