Laid, laying.

I know!! Should have put in a

I was joking, nightowl - think it's time I said goodnight!

But I think the answer to your last question is yes.

I've confused myself now.

It's what Elegran said about transitive and intransitive verbs. Don't know where floors and grounds come into it or sat and sitting. Help

So, you could lay down on your back if you were a down-laying, contortionist duck?

I think you can Ana but you can't lay down on your back. You have to lay something down. It can be yourself or an object. But you can only lay eggs or tables. Your choice

Can't you lay yourself down on your back?

Just don't start laying down or you run the risk of suffocation.

Or lay/lie yourself down in bed?

My head's reeling.

I think I'd better go and lie/lay down on the floor/ground

Glad you brought this up mrsmopp - I too find it very annoying. Another current usage that sets my teeth on edge is 'floor' for 'ground' i.e. 'I tripped on the pavement and was laid on the floor' - No!, No!, No! [shudder]

Bloody hell, I bet your average chicken would rather lay an egg then a table!

Makes the eyes water just to think of it.

I brought it up because so many people get it wrong. It must be very difficult if first language isn't English. Our language is full of pitfalls.

Faye

I think it is actually lay the table and I am lying in bed. I know I wrote late last night on the iPad section that I was laying in bed, but I am not a fork I am a person, so I should have written I am lying in bed.

'Now I lay me down to sleep' could also be a shorter version of 'Now I lay myself down to sleep'.

So glad you liked it Elegran, I can't remember where I heard or read it but it has helped me to remember the use of the verb. I will have that lovely mental picture to add to it now as well!

Lovely image nightowl there of a duck sitting in a nest, producing down by the pillows-worth, like a spider spinning a web.

Sat and sitting is a similar annoyance!

Or to complicate matters still further 'even ducks don't lay down'. Though perhaps they lay down yesterday.

There's a prayer "Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the lord my soul to keep ....."

That must be using the verb transitively, with the "me" as the object.

Or poetic licence, sneaking in the "me" to get the line to scan.

Yes, and the same rule would apply to 'laying down your burden' - the burden would in the past tense have been 'laid down'.

You lie down, but you lay down something else. You can lay a table or an egg. You can get laid (if you get lucky)

The past tense of I lie is I lay - as in "I lie here in my bed now, just as I lay there yesterday" (lazy cow)

Then there is telling fibs - in that case it is "I lie today, and I lied yesterday"

What a language!

mrsmopp Two different verbs, the verb to lay (hens) and the verb to lie (people)
Hens lay eggs. People lie down. (Present tense)
The hen laid some eggs. The people lay down on the beds. (Past tense)
The hens were laying some eggs. The people were lying on the beds (past imperfect)
Sorry, but you did put it in pedants' corner and I have no doubt that someone, probably absent, will be along very shortly to correct me

However, isn't there a hymn or bible reading about "laying down your burden" ? In that case "lie" doesn't seem right