# lay laid laid   and   lie lay lain



## superguapo

for second time,  i need help.

those verbs are same?? 

lay laid laid ( similar to set)  is it?

lie lay lain ( similar to put to bed) correct??

i love ennglish, but is hard.   

thanks again.


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## Dimcl

superguapo said:


> *F*or *a* second time,*I* need help.
> 
> *Are *those verbs are *the* same??
> 
> lay laid laid ( similar to set) is it?
> 
> lie lay lain ( similar to put to bed) correct??
> 
> *I* love *E*nglish, but *it* is hard.
> 
> *T*hanks again.


 
Hi Superguapo and welcome to the forum.  I'm not really sure what you're asking.  Forum rules require that you provide some context instead of asking a very generalized question about words that can be used in a multitude of ways.  If you could please provide a couple of sample sentences to help clarify what you're trying to ask, that would make it much easier to answer your questions.

By the way, forum rules also require that we do our very best to use proper capitalization, etc. not "chat-text".


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## superguapo

Im sorry for my mistake, I know my english is not well, but i try.

Im learnning, but I really need help.

these are my examples.

i want to lay my computer on the table. ( in present time)
i laid my shoe on bed. (past time)

in this case this verb is similar to put? set?

the other verb is

alex is lie on bed.
she lay on the grass 
i have lain above the table


thanks


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## Dimcl

superguapo said:


> Im sorry for my mistake, I know my english is not well, but i try.
> 
> I*'*m lear*n*ing, but I really need help.
> 
> *T*hese are my examples*:*
> 
> *I* want to lay my computer on the table. ( in present time)
> *I* laid my shoe on bed. (past time)
> 
> *I*n this case this verb is similar to put? set? *Yes*
> 
> *T*he other verb is*:*
> 
> *A*lex is lie *laying* on *the* bed. *"Laying" is the word you want, not "lie". Alex lies on the bed. Alex is laying on the bed.*
> *S*he lay on the grass
> *I* have lain above the table *- Because this sentence is not logical, I don't know whether you're using "lain" correctly or not. What do you mean when you say that you have lain above the table?*
> 
> 
> *T*hanks


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## Lis48

*Dimcl: A*lex is  *laying* on *the* bed. *"Laying" is the word you want, not "lie". Alex lies on the bed. Alex is laying on the bed.*

Alex is laying on the bed Dimcl?! He is lying on the bed not laying unless he is engaged in sexual activity! _Lay_ requires an object. Lie doesn´t.


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## strix

Lis48 said:


> *Dimcl: A*lex is  *laying* on *the* bed. *"Laying" is the word you want, not "lie". Alex lies on the bed. Alex is laying on the bed.*
> 
> Alex is laying on the bed Dimcl?! He is lying on the bed not laying unless he is engaged in sexual activity! _Lay_ requires an object. Lie doesn´t.



Well, he could have been laying eggs, I suppose! Or, if he was lying on the bed, he might have been telling a fib: according to some carols, even Jesus was lying, in the manger, when he was only a baby! But then, who am I to tell: after all, I´m only a layman!

But I have seen even professional journalists getting it wrong when it comes to _lying_ and _laying_, proving once again that English is an _impossible_ language!   ;-)


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## egremoq

....or unless Alex is a (rather confused) hen!


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## gaer

Dmcl,

You made it impossible to reply to your text by including your whole reply in a quote.

I assume you were trying so hard to correct lack of capitals that you missed the tense:

Alex is lying on the bed.
Alex was laying on the bed. 

That's what you meant, right? 

Gaer


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## Dimcl

gaer said:


> Dmcl,
> 
> I assume you were trying so hard to correct lack of capitals that you missed the tense:
> 
> Alex is lying on the bed.
> Alex was laying on the bed.
> 
> That's what you meant, right?
> 
> Gaer


 
Sorry about that.  Yes, that's what I meant - darn those capitals!  Thanks.


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## Lis48

gaer said:


> Dmcl,
> I assume you were trying so hard to correct lack of capitals that you missed the tense:
> Alex is lying on the bed.
> Alex was laying on the bed.
> That's what you meant, right?
> Gaer


 
Whether it is _was_ or _is_ makes no difference. It still should be_ is/was lying_. There are *three* different verbs. 
*To lie*: Lie/lied/lied/lying means to tell an untruth.
*To lie*: Lie/lay/lain/lying means to lie in a horizontal position. 
*To lay*: Lay/laid/laid/laying means to put something down.
_Alex was/is laying on the bed,_ is from "to lay" so means he is laying a woman or eggs (!) etc. To lay must have an object.
_Alex was/is lying on the bed_ is from "to lie" and means he is telling untruths or is in a horizontal position or both (!).
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-grammar-lie-lay.htm


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## gaer

Lis48 said:


> Whether it is _was_ or _is_ makes no difference. It still should be_ is/was lying_. There are *three* different verbs.


You are absolutely right. The past participle remains "lying".

I was lying, I have been lying, I will be lying, etc.

I was thinking of lay in simple past tense:

He lay on his bed.

What was I thinking! 

Laying belongs with "lay", as in "laying tile".

Gaer


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## superguapo

thank you so much,  that answer is  what i looked for, because the 3 verbs makes me confuse, i have my list of verbs for learn and i saw those verbs,  and now i see the meaning of each one. Now i understand and finale i can practice the verbs and how to use.  i apreciate it.  thank you.


*To lie*: Lie/lied/lied/lying means to tell an untruth.
*To lie*: Lie/lay/lain/lying means to lie in a horizontal position. 
*To lay*: Lay/laid/laid/laying means to put something down.
_Alex was/is laying on the bed,_ is from "to lay" so means he is laying a woman or eggs (!) etc. To lay must have an object.
_Alex was/is lying on the bed_ is from "to lie" and means he is telling untruths or is in a horizontal position or both (!).


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## gaer

superguapo said:


> th
> *To lay*: Lay/laid/laid/laying means to put something down.
> _Alex was/is laying on the bed,_ is from "to lay" so means he is laying a woman or eggs (!) etc. To lay must have an object.
> _Alex was/is lying on the bed_ is from "to lie" and means he is telling untruths or is in a horizontal position or both (!).


You are right, and I'm sorry for the confusion I threw into the thread.

However, this is nearly impossible, for the reasons you already mentioned:

_Alex was/is laying on the bed_

You need something else to make this work:

_Alex was/is laying his books/toys/pictures on the bed._

I believe the confusion is that the above sentence is a bit strange. Usually you put things on something, or put them down on something. Regardless, to make your "laying on the bed sentence" work, you have to have an object.

Also, a sentence such as "he was laying her"  is not only quite rude sounding, it also sounds very strange in modern English.


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## MikeLynn

Not being a native speaker, I was really surprised how easy it was for me to tell AmE from BrE here as _dog owners_ usually say:
_Lay down_-American
_Lie down_-British
Is that a "rule" or just something that is quite coincidental?
M&L


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## gaer

MikeLynn said:


> Not being a native speaker, I was really surprised how easy it was for me to tell AmE from BrE here as _dog owners_ usually say:
> _Lay down_-American
> _Lie down_-British
> Is that a "rule" or just something that is quite coincidental?
> M&L


I say only: Lie down.

"Lay down" is incorrect. I don't think it is an AE/BE matter.


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## Dimcl

gaer said:


> "Lay down" is incorrect. I don't think it is an AE/BE matter.


 
I am putting my mea culpa on the record.  Gaer is correct and I'm mortified.  My apologies to anyone that I misled and to everybody else who thinks that I'm a horse's ass, welcome to the club.


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## Loob

MikeLynn said:


> Not being a native speaker, I was really surprised how easy it was for me to tell AmE from BrE here as _dog owners_ usually say:
> _Lay down_-American
> _Lie down_-British
> Is that a "rule" or just something that is quite coincidental?
> M&L


As far as I know (and as far as I recall from previous threads) there is no AmE/BrE difference here.

Both sides of the Atlantic distinguish between:

_lie/lied/lied_
_lie/lay/lain_
_lay/laid/laid._


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## MikeLynn

Well, *lie* is intransitive while _lay_ is transitive, so "grammarwise" it seems to be clear and I'm sure that doggies do not care. I just wonder whether this "mistake" is more common in AmE or BrE because, although Loob says there is no difference, it seems to be, at least to me, a wee bit more usual in AmE. All contributions are welcome.
M&L
P.S. I am, myself, an "americanofile", but I am really curious about what the acceptability of this non-standard usage is all about. Is it more typical in AmE or BrE? Considering the geographical span of members here, it should not be that difficult to find out. *Thanks a lot, everybody*
M&L


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## gaer

MikeLynn said:


> Well, *lie* is intransitive while _lay_ is transitive, so "grammarwise" it seems to be clear and I'm sure that doggies do not care. I just wonder whether this "mistake" is more common in AmE or BrE because, although Loob says there is no difference, it seems to be, at least to me, a wee bit more usual in AmE. All contributions are welcome.
> M&L
> P.S. I am, myself, an "americanofile", but I am really curious about what the acceptability of this non-standard usage is all about. Is it more typical in AmE or BrE? Considering the geographical span of members here, it should not be that difficult to find out. *Thanks a lot, everybody*
> M&L


I would say that the problem of correct usage of "lie/lay" is more related to class/education/register than to AE/BE.

I agree with Loob.


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## MikeLynn

Thank you very much gaer, this is exactly what I wanted to know. By the way,the Lynn part of my username is my black lab's name and when I say "L", of course in the right situation and with the right epmphasis, she knows what to do and the same thing applies to "S'. I was just curious . Thanks a lot for the explanation.
M&L


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## Forero

"Lay" is used a lot for "lie" where I live, especially when "lie" might be ambiguous, but we learn the distinction in school.  I try to be consistent when I am writing, to the point of irritating some of the people I work with.  Lawyers use the wrong forms on purpose to boost the control factor.  (It is easier to manipulate someone concentrating on correct usage than someone trying to "read between the lines".)

Because the past tense "lay" sounds just like the present tense "lay", there is linguistic pressure to add -ed ("layed") to make it clearly past tense.  On top of this, it is unusual for a verb change its vowel just because it is used intransitively.  I think "set"-"sit" and "lay"-"lie" are the only verbs that do this and the ones "reviewed" in this regard at least once annually in American schools, from first grade (~ 6 yo) to English Composition (required course in college/university).


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## gaer

Forero said:


> "Lay" is used a lot for "lie" where I live, especially when "lie" might be ambiguous, but we learn the distinction in school. I try to be consistent when I am writing, to the point of irritating some of the people I work with. Lawyers use the wrong forms on purpose to boost the control factor. (It is easier to manipulate someone concentrating on correct usage than someone trying to "read between the lines".)


You just lost me. Lawyers use the wrong forms of lie/lay, on purpose?


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## Forero

gaer said:


> You just lost me. Lawyers use the wrong forms of lie/lay, on purpose?


Perhaps I should say "apparently" or "allegedly".  I haven't asked them, but they do misuse these verbs even  though they had the same teachers I did all those years.  Are they trying to put others at ease by sounding "down home"?


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## gaer

Forero said:


> Perhaps I should say "apparently" or "allegedly". I haven't asked them, but they do misuse these verbs even though they had the same teachers I did all those years. Are they trying to put others at ease by sounding "down home"?


I would say that it is more likely that they are better at the law than English. Seriously!


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## Judica

The verbs lay and lie always confuse people.

Verbs:

Lay means to put something down.

Lie means to assume a horizontal or resting position. 

Lay, laid, laying

Lie, lies, laid, lain, lying


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## Nosam

Is "lain" used correctly in a sentence without a form of "have"?  Would it be correct to say he was lain in bed as opposed to the past participle of "lay" (to place), such as he was "laid" in bed?  I cannot recall this verb ever being used without the perfect tense modifier "has, have or had". Other past participles are used this way, such as he was shrunk or she swung the bat.

Thanks!


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## GreenWhiteBlue

_Lie_, meaning _to recline_, is an intransitive verb, and as an intransitive verb it cannot have a passive form.

Furthermore, _lain_ is the past participle of lie, while the past tense is _lay_. Participles are not used by themselves; it is just not obvious with most verbs, as the past participle and the past tense often have the same form. Consider, however, a verb whose past participle is distinct from its past tense, such as do/did/done, or drink/drank/drunk, and you will see the point.


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## Nosam

Thank you!  If I understand correctly then, "lain" (to rest) is always going to be used with a form of "to have," and "laid" (to place),  being transitive, would be the correct word to use with "to be".


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## 4TranslatingEnglish

*Making love*



gaer said:


> Also, a sentence such as "he was laying her"  is not only quite rude sounding, it also sounds very strange in modern English.



Although modern English uses plentifully "getting laid".
I was wondering if it were forum policy to address this kind of language (I read there's a children's forums, when you do "search"?...) and keeping myself from asking but after what I've read in the "pop the cherry" thread, here goes:
I too have questions concerning this particular use of "lie/lay"? which regard not lying awake in bed or laying down carpets. If this should go on another thread, be my guest.
Are the rules for lay/lie the same when we're talking about making love? I know it's old usage, but please indulge me!
Is this correct (I'll specify which tense I'm using so there's no confusion in case I get it wrong, and remember I'm exclusively speaking of sex):

_I have lain with him. _(past participle of lie)
_Remember the day we lay beneath the flower blossoms?_ (simple past of lie)
_I want you to lye with me. / Would you lie with me?_ (present of lie)


Back to "he was laying a woman", this seems to me to be the verb "lay", as in laying something? Correct? And what does the expression exactly mean? Does it mean merely to lie down with a woman or, more actively, to be actually having sex with a woman (the act)?
Also, if a man can lay a woman, can a woman lay, likewise, a man? (I think it is the case with "bed someone"?)

*shyfully thanks in advance*


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## Rover_KE

I wrote this verse to help my students with the usage:

*HOW TO USE LIE AND LAY*

I'm lying here upon the shore;
I lie here every day.
I've lain here many times before;
I lay here yesterday.

I'd lay my head upon the floor
If you'd lie down with me.
I've laid it there five times or more;
(I lied...it's only three.)

Rover


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## ewie

Rover_KE said:


> I wrote this verse to help my students with the usage:


Nice one, Rovie


4TranslatingEnglish said:


> *Making love*


Hello 4TE.  The thing about _lay_ [in its Modern English sexual sense] is that it really doesn't mean 'make love to' or 'have sex with': it's more like 'have a sexual *encounter/episode* with', '"conquer" sexually' ... it's a very unromantic, slangy term.  (It's probably most used by men of women, though I see no reason why women shouldn't use it of men, or other available combinations.)  You'll often hear men making boasts such as:
_I've laid every woman in this room
_or gibes such as:
_She was a lousy lay _[n. = "She was no good in bed"].

The examples you give:


> _I have lain with him. _(past participle of lie)
> _Remember the day we lay beneath the flower blossoms?_ (simple past of lie)
> _I want you to l*i*e with me. / Would you lie with me?_ (present of lie)


are all using the Old English verb _lie (with)_, which is a completely different kettle of fish.  (So to speak).  The Bible is crammed full of such uses:
_Sarah lay with Boaz and begat Billibob_*
This is a perfectly 'respectable' use of _lie_ ... but it's *very* archaic.

With your second example, I wouldn't automatically think you meant _we made love_, mainly because, without the 'clue' of a following _with_, my modern eye automatically reads _lay_ there as 'stretched out on the ground'.

No-one on earth (with the possible exception of Amish folk, possibly) would ever ask _Would you lie with me?_ in 2010.

Have I missed anything?




*Not a real quote: last name made up


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## 4TranslatingEnglish

ewie said:


> No-one on earth (with the possible exception of Amish folk, possibly) would ever ask _Would you lie with me?_ in 2010.



I could think of a couple occasions. PM me if you're interested.



> Have I missed anything?


Yes, this:



> Back to "he was laying a woman", this seems to me to be the verb "lay",  as in laying something? Correct? And what does the expression exactly  mean? Does it mean merely to lie down with a woman or, more actively, to  be actually having sex with a woman (the act)?
> Also, if a man can lay a woman, can a woman lay, likewise, a man? (I think it is the case with "bed someone"?)


But thank you very much for the explanation on the first part.


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## ewie

> "he was laying a woman"


I completely agree with Gaer in post #13, 4TE: this sounds extremely odd in current-day English.  I'd be more than surprised to hear a native speaker say it.
But if I _did_, I'd assume it meant 'was having sex with' 'was having a sexual encounter with'.


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## Einstein

"Lay" in this sense is not used exclusively by men. At least in films you hear women talk about "getting laid". It's definitely the man that "lays" the woman, not vice versa; the woman "gets laid".

Anyway, this use of "lay" is consistent with the scheme of lie/lay/lain being instransitive while lay/laid/laid is transitive.

On another point, when it snows and we see that the ground is beginning to turn white, the usual expression is "the snow is laying". Formally it ought to be "lying" (intransitive verb), but I don't know if anyone actually says this. Any opinions?


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## ewie

Einstein said:


> On another point, when it snows and we see that the ground is beginning to turn white, the usual expression is "the snow is laying". Formally it ought to be "lying" (intransitive verb), but I don't know if anyone actually says this. Any opinions?


*Moderator note:* Hello Einstein (and anyone else) ~ would you like to re-ask (and answer) that question in this old thread about 'laying' snow?  Thanks.


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## LilithE

Einstein said:


> "Lay" in this sense is not used exclusively by men. At least in films you hear women talk about "getting laid". *It's definitely the man that "lays" the woman, not vice versa; the woman "gets laid".*



Are you sure about this? I've heard men ( native speakers ) telling their male friend something like 'You definitely need to get laid'. Whether the one who should 'lay him' should be a woman or a man isn't even important in that context. It means more that that persons spends too much time thinking about sex and should actually do something about it instead.

Plus, that activity wouldn't be that fun if your sentence was true.  I think women can equally 'lay' and 'get laid'.


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## 4TranslatingEnglish

Einstein said:


> "Lay" in this sense is not used exclusively by men. At least in films you hear women talk about "getting laid". It's definitely the man that "lays" the woman, not vice versa; the woman "gets laid".
> 
> Anyway, this use of "lay" is consistent with the scheme of lie/lay/lain being instransitive while lay/laid/laid is transitive.



I agree with LilithE on this. If the original meaning, the archaic meaning, if you will, was for the male alone to have an active part (lays) while the woman has a passive one (gets laid), it seems to have been generalised to both genders.

Which added even more to my original confusion concerning this particular use of the verb(s).
Thank you all for the clarification.


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## Einstein

OK, if men now "get laid" we can thank female emancipation.

Thanks *ewie*, I'll have a look at the other thread.


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## 4TranslatingEnglish

> Duly the pair of us adored Him, and gave thanks for His  great mercy in coming to light another day, and then *we laid ourselves  down* where we were to doze, and take that easy rest which we so urgently  needed.
> Edgar Rice Burroughs, "The Lost Continent"
> Source


Why does the author say "then we laid ourselves  down" (verb "to lay") instead of "then we lay down" (verb "to lie")? Is there any particular different meaning or does it merely sound better somehow?
What's the most used form? "To lie down" or "to lay oneself down"?


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## Lis48

4TranslatingEnglish said:


> Why does the author say "then we laid ourselves down" (verb "to lay") instead of "then we lay down" (verb "to lie")? Is there any particular different meaning or does it merely sound better somehow? It sounds more archaic and poetical to use lay. Burroughs' language is more old-fashioned.
> What's the most used form? "To lie down" or "to lay oneself down"?


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## 4TranslatingEnglish

Thank you.


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## Forero

_Lay_, I believe, is the causative form of _lie_, as _set_ is of _sit_, and _to fell_ is of _to fall_.

As setting something is causing it to sit, and felling a tree is causing it to fall, laying something somewhere is causing it to lie there.

The verb _lie_ may express a position, a state, rather than an action (e.g. "The book was lying on the table"), but the verb _lay_ implies a change of state, an action ("I was laying a book on the table").

To me, the main difference between lying down and laying myself down is the idea of causing a change, i.e. willfull action, inherent in "lay".

"To lie down" is far more common than "to lay oneself down".


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## screenactorsguild

<<This post merged with this thread.  SAG: the answer is probably above!>>

Here is a sentence from my homework at school:
" Many a revolutionary ...........(have lied down , have laid down , has lain down, has laid down) his life for the cause of liberation."
I chose c but wrong, my teacher insisted on d
The problem is that I don't know why they can use "lay down sth here"?
It has many meanings in the dictionary so I don't know how to translate this sentence understandably to me!


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## natkretep

Yes, just remember that _lie_ (past tense _lay, _past participle _has lain_) is intransitive: he lies in bed all day, he lay in bed all day, he has lain in bed all day.

And _lay_ (past tense _laid_, past participle _has laid_) is transitive: he lays down his life, he laid down his life, he has laid down his life.

That's why the answer is D.


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## screenactorsguild

But I don't understand this sentence, that's the point!!! 
Please translate it into a more understandable way for me!!!


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## JustKate

Is it the expression "laid down his life" that you don't understand? It's an idiom that means "sacrificed himself." The revolutionary (which here is a noun meaning "individual who is fighting in favor of the revolution") voluntarily sacrificed his life for the cause of the revolution.


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## JustKate

By the way, here is another thread that talks about this expression: Can you lay your life down.


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## zaffy

natkretep said:


> Yes, just remember that _lie_ (past tense _lay, _past participle _has lain_) is intransitive: he lies in bed all day, he lay in bed all day, *he has lain in bed all day*.




Cambridge says the past particple of "lie", that is, "lain" is very formal and rarely used. Do you agree? Does the above example sound natural?


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## Lis48

"He has lain in bed all day" is grammatically correct though archaic. Lie, lay, lain.
"He has laid in bed all day" is grammatically wrong and sounds to me uneducated.
We would normally say "He's been lying in bed all day."


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## Wordy McWordface

I wouldn't say that 'lain' is _very _formal or that it _rarely _used. While it's  true that we don't tend to drop it into casual conversation much, there are certainly many neutral, everyday contexts in which we might use it.  You'll often come across it in collocations, for example, 'The virus seems to have lain dormant for years'.

And, as Lis48 says, it is certainly preferable to use the correct form, 'He's lain in bed', rather than the horribly uneducated 'He's laid in bed'.  Eurggh!


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## zaffy

Wordy McWordface said:


> I wouldn't say that 'lain' is _very _formal or that it _rarely _used.





Lis48 said:


> correct though archaic.


And how about this?

"Have you ever *lain* on a water bed?" Does it sound archaic or simply unnatural?


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## merquiades

@zaffy  Did you ever lie down on a water bed?    sleep... stretch out...
Lay down is extremely frequent (even amongst the educated) but not correct and should be avoided.


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## zaffy

merquiades said:


> Did you ever lie down on a water bed?


Yeah, but BE uses the present perfect with "ever", so I was wondering if they would ask 'Have you ever lain......?"


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## Wordy McWordface

zaffy said:


> And how about this?
> 
> "Have you ever *lain* on a water bed?" Does it sound archaic or simply unnatural?



'Have you ever lain on a water bed?' doesn't sound archaic - just a bit unlikely.  It's not how we'd phrase the question.


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## zaffy

Wordy McWordface said:


> 'Have you ever lain on a water bed?' doesn't sound archaic, just a bit unlikely.


So how would you put it? Would say 'Did you ever lie...'?


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## Wordy McWordface

zaffy said:


> So how would you put it? Would say 'Did you ever lie...'?


The issue isn't the tense. The "Did you ever...?" /"Have you ever..?" question is a whole other story that isn't relevant here.

We'd use a different verb, for example:  "Have you ever slept on a water bed?" for a whole night, or maybe "Have you ever tried a water bed?" or even "Have you ever been on a water bed?" (never underestimate how useful pro-verbs like 'be' and 'have' are in English).


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## natkretep

_Ever_ doesn't go with the past tense for me. I'm actually perfectly happy with _lain_ in the right context though. 'He has lain in the sun too long.'


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## Wordy McWordface

_Ever _can go with a past tense, of course.  If the context is a finished period of time,  we can use _ever _to refer to 'any time within that period'. For example:

You lived in Scotland when you were a student, didn't you?
Yes. I was at Glasgow University. I was there for four years, back in the 1970s.
Did you ever go to the Highlands and Islands?
No, never. I wish I had, though.


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## natkretep

Wordy McWordface said:


> _Ever _can go with a past tense, of course.  If the context is a finished period of time,  we can use _ever _to refer to 'any time within that period'.


I was thinking of _ever_ anchored to the present. But yes, you can use the past tense when it is anchored to the past.


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## Rover_KE

The past participle 'lain' is alive and well. To suggest that it's archaic, very formal or rarely used serves only to discourage students from using a very fine word indeed.


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## zaffy

merquiades said:


> Lay down is extremely frequent (even amongst the educated) but not correct and should be avoided.


It is


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## merquiades

@zaffy   Yes, that is the context of lay down
I'm going to lay down and take a nap on my water bed
Did you ever try laying on a water bed?
I'm going to lay in tomorrow morning.
I've been laying on the sofa eating popcorn
Remember in all of these you should change lay to lie if you want to be correct.


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## Lis48

Now to my BE ears, "We just need to lay down" sounds totally wrong. It should be, for me, "We just need to lie down."  Because "to lay" is transitive, my mind seeks the object that we need to lay down. I would wonder "Lay down what?" e.g. arms (i.e. surrender) or some nice wine in the cellar maybe.

I would never say or write "I've been laying on the sofa eating popcorn" or " Did you ever try laying on a water bed" or "I'm going to lay in tomorrow" etc. etc.
 All, for me, should without a doubt use the verb to lie which is intransitive so doesn't need a direct object.


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