The Captain’s Log

Lie Versus Lay

Lie is intransitive:

The present tense of lie is lie.

I lie on the floor. I lie awake at night.

The present perfect tense of lie is have lain.

I have lain on the floor. I have lain awake all night.

The past tense of lie is lay.

I lay on the floor. I lay awake at night.

The past perfect tense of lie is had lain.

I had lain on the floor. I had lain awake all night.

The future tense of lie is will lie.

I will lie on the floor. I will lie awake all night.

The future perfect tense of lie is will have lain.

I will have lain on the floor. I will have lain awake all night.

Lay is transitive:

The present tense of lay is lay.

I lay the box on the floor. I lay my sword down.

The present perfect tense of lay is have laid.

I have laid the box on the floor. I have laid my sword down.

The past tense of lay is laid

I laid the box on the floor. I laid my sword down.

The past perfect tense of lay is had laid.

I had laid the box on the floor. I had laid my sword down.

The future tense of lay is will lay.

I will lay the box on the floor. I will lay my sword down.

The future perfect tense of lay is will have laid.

I will have laid the box on the floor. I will have laid my sword down.

Progressive tenses of lie:

The present progressive tense of lie is am lying.

I am lying on the floor. I am lying awake all night.

The present perfect progressive tense of lie is have been lying.

I have been lying on the floor. I have been lying awake all night.

The past progressive tense of lie is was lying.

I was lying on the floor. I was lying awake all night.

The past perfect progressive tense of lie is had been lying.

I had been lying on the floor. I had been lying awake all night.

The future progressive tense of lie is will be lying.

I will be lying on the floor. I will be lying awake all night.

The future perfect progressive tense of lie is will have been lying.

I will have been lying on the floor. I will have been lying awake all night.

Progressive tenses of lay:

The present progressive tense of lay is am laying.

I am laying an egg. I am laying my sword down.

The present perfect progressive tense of lay is have been laying.

I have been laying an egg. I have been laying my sword down.

The past progressive tense of lay is was laying.

I was laying an egg. I was laying my sword down.

The past perfect progressive tense of lay is had been laying.

I had been laying an egg. I had been laying my sword down.

The future progressive tense of lay is will be laying.

I will be laying an egg. I will be laying my sword down.

The future perfect progressive tense of lay is will have been laying.

I will have been laying an egg. I will have been laying my sword down.