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This video clears up the confusion between then and than once and for all. It explains when to use each one (one for time, one for comparison) and...
Lay vs. Lie 1615 Views
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Transcript
- 00:04
Lay versus Lie, a la Shmoop.
- 00:08
There's nothing quite so nice as laying in bed on a Saturday morning...
- 00:11
...or is it supposed to be lying in bed?
- 00:13
Argh! It's the weekend! We shouldn't have to be thinking about grammar!
- 00:17
Sorry... just a couple minutes of your time and then you can get back to sleep...
Full Transcript
- 00:21
Here's the rule for "lay" versus "lie"...
- 00:24
..."lay" requires a direct object...
- 00:28
...and "lie" does not.
- 00:29
Keep in mind... we're talking about the setting/reclining kind of "lie"...
- 00:32
...not the "lie" you tell your teacher when you forget to do your homework.
- 00:38
Let's look at some examples. You might tell your dog to lie down on the floor...
- 00:43
...and you might also tell him to lay his favorite bone down on the floor.
- 00:47
The example with "lay" has a direct object...
- 00:50
...the bone...
- 00:51
...but the example with "lie" does not. More examples! Helen laid the book on the table.
- 00:58
Tommy laid the hot dog on the plate.
- 01:01
Your mom has laid the car keys in your hand...
- 01:05
Notice how all of these sentences include direct objects...
- 01:08
...the book, the hot dog, and the car keys. Remember that sentences with "lie", on
- 01:13
the other hand, don't require direct objects.
- 01:16
You could say, "Grandpa is lying in the jacuzzi"...
- 01:19
...or, "Ethan has lain on the beach". See? No direct objects!
- 01:25
We get that it might be difficult to remember that "lay" requires a direct object...
- 01:30
...and "lie" does not. So, here are a couple of tricks to help you out.
- 01:34
Recall that the word "lie" means to "recline"...
- 01:36
...and the word "lie" sounds like it is in "rec-lie-ne".
- 01:41
Now, if you want to remember that the word "lay" requires a direct object...
- 01:46
...think of the phrase, "Lay it on me"...
- 01:48
...where you're laying something, that "it", on me.
- 01:53
There's a little additional craziness, however. The past tense of "lie"...
- 01:56
...which does not require a direct object...
- 02:00
...is "lay". Oy.
- 02:03
In this case, just remember the phrase, "Yesterday, down I lay." Still no direct object in sight.
- 02:08
And now that we've got this whole "lay" versus "lie" thing ironed out...
- 02:12
...you can go lie back down...
- 02:13
...if you think your brain will let you.
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