Lay x 2

The difference between lay and lie confuses almost everyone. It sometimes makes me pause and think.

Let’s focus on lay. There are two ways to use it:

#1 Lay (present tense; transitive verb, takes an object) = to place something down

Examples:

I’ll lay your iPad on the table.

Why did you lay the bowling ball on my foot?

#2 Lay (past tense of lie; intransitive verb, doesn’t take an object) = to recline; to rest on a surface

Examples:

Carlo lay in the sun too long and now he has a sunburn.

The banana lay in the cage all day but the monkey never ate it.

So when you lay your head on the pillow tonight, I hope you lie in bed, never confused about using lay or lay again.