Grammar: LAY, LIE or LIE? Learn The Difference And Boost Your English Skills Light Quiz ️

[00:00:00]These three English verbs look very simple, but are very very confusing to many English learners. In today's video, I'll teach you the exact difference between them, and you will know exactly when to use each of them in sentences, okay? These two have the same spelling, but are totally different in meaning.

[00:00:23]Let's first of all identify their past, past participle, and the continuous tense forms before we look at the usage, okay? Lay is the base form. The past tense is laid.

[00:00:39]The past participle is still laid.

[00:00:45]And the continuous form is laying.

[00:00:50]Lie is the base form. The past tense of it is lay.

[00:00:57]The past participle is lain.

[00:01:02]And the continuous form is lying.

[00:01:09]Lie is the base form. The past tense of it is lied.

[00:01:16]The past participle is lied.

[00:01:21]And the continuous form is lying.

[00:01:27]Now, having identified their past, past participle, and the continuous forms, let's look at the usage to be able to know the difference. Lay is used when we want to talk about putting something or placing something somewhere. So, use lay when your expression has to do with to put or place something.

[00:02:00]>> somewhere.

[00:02:06]So, when you want to put or place something down, use lay to express it, okay? Now, let's look at examples here so that you understand exactly how to use four of them in sentences.

[00:02:20]Our first example is number one. Please blank the toys on the table. You can see we have toys here and then table.

[00:02:34]The sentence suggests that the toys should be placed on the table.

[00:02:42]So, we use the base form of the word lay.

[00:02:48]Note that this verb lay always takes objects, okay? In this sentence, toys is the object which will be placed on the table. The sentence suggests present action.

[00:03:06]So, using the base form is perfect here.

[00:03:09]Please lay the toys on the table. Two.

[00:03:13]She blank her bag in the room yesterday.

[00:03:17]This sentence suggests placing the bag somewhere, which is the room.

[00:03:26]So, here we are to place or put the bag in the room.

[00:03:32]Also, having yesterday here suggests that it is a past action.

[00:03:39]Simple past. So, we are to use the past tense, which is laid.

[00:03:47]She laid her bag in the room yesterday.

[00:03:51]Next example is number seven.

[00:03:56]He has blank the books on the shelf.

[00:04:00]Here, we have the object books.

[00:04:03]The books are to be placed on the shelf.

[00:04:08]We have has here, which shows that we must use the past participle form.

[00:04:17]Which is laid.

[00:04:23]He has laid the books on the shelf. Next example is eight. They are blank the carpets in the living room. Here, the object carpet is to be placed in the living room. So, here, the carpet is being placed. Now, having are here shows that the sentence is in present continuous tense.

[00:04:49]continuous.

[00:04:51]So, we are to use the continuous form, which is laying.

[00:04:59]They are laying the carpet in the living room.

[00:05:03]Now, let's look at when to use lie and the various forms. We use it when the sentence has to do with someone resting or to be in a flat position.

[00:05:24]So, when the sentence has to do with resting in a flat position, we use lie and these various forms. Now, let's use four of them in sentences so that you understand better, okay? First example is number three.

[00:05:44]Every afternoon, I blank on the couch for an hour.

[00:05:49]You can see the sentence has to do with someone resting.

[00:05:56]Resting on the couch for an hour. And having every afternoon here suggests that it is present.

[00:06:05]So, this is in present tense.

[00:06:10]Therefore, we use the base form, lie.

[00:06:14]Every afternoon, I lie on the couch for an hour.

[00:06:19]Resting or being in a flat position on the couch. Next example, Yesterday, I blank on the beach and watched the waves. This has to do with resting.

[00:06:34]Being in a flat position on the beach while I watched the waves. Okay? Having yesterday here shows that it is a past action.

[00:06:48]So, we have to use the past form, which is lay.

[00:06:55]Yesterday, I lay on the beach and watched the waves. Next, She has blank in bed since morning. You can see we have in bed here to show that it has to do with someone being in a flat position.

[00:07:19]And the word has suggests that we have to use past participle form, which is lain.

[00:07:31]She has lain in bed since morning. Last example for lie to show the usage of lying is number six.

[00:07:41]The dog is blank under the table. Here we have dog resting or relaxing under the table. It is a present continuous action, so we use lying.

[00:08:00]The dog is lying under the table.

[00:08:04]Now, let's look at the last one, lie. We use it to say something that's is not true.

[00:08:18]So, when someone says something that is not true, it means the person is telling a lie, okay?

[00:08:26]So, this lie is used to tell an untruth.

[00:08:34]Let's use it and the various forms in sentences one after the other. First example is number nine. Don't blank to your parents. The sentence suggests someone telling an untruth.

[00:08:52]Saying something that is not true. And the sentence suggests present action.

[00:09:00]So, we use the base form, lie.

[00:09:05]Don't lie to your parents.

[00:09:09]Next, he blank about his age last week.

[00:09:14]This has to do with someone saying something that is not true about his age. And we have last week here, which suggests past action.

[00:09:29]So, we have to use the past form of lie, which is lied.

[00:09:35]He lied about his age last week.

[00:09:39]Next, she has blank to me before. This also still talks about someone giving false information.

[00:09:51]And we have has here, which suggests that we must use the past participle form of the verb lied.

[00:10:02]She has lied to me before. Next, why are you blank to your teacher?

[00:10:09]Here we are talking about someone telling an untruth to the teacher, saying what is not true.

[00:10:19]To the teacher. And using I here shows that it is a present tense. The action is continuous. So, we are to use the continuous form of lie, which is lying.

[00:10:35]Why are you lying to your teacher? Now, the last one is for you to answer in the comment section. The baby has blank on the yoga mat all morning. Type your answer in the comment section. Note that the word has is here, which suggests that we must use the past participle form. So, you are to choose between laid, lain, and lied.

[00:11:08]So, which of them is correct in this sentence? Thank you for watching this video. I'll see you in my next class.