So often misused! So here is your easy, short little Christmas gift.
The verbs to lie and to lay.
To lay:
lay, laid, laid
To lie:
lie, lay, lain
To lay is transitive. The direct object is the tipoff!
To lie has no direct object. Thus sentences like:
He lay out in the sun.
I love to lie out in the son.
You want to lie out?
So easy! English teacher listen up. We've made it too hard on students for decades.
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson edits, consults and speaks on issues of publishing. Find her The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0978515870. Learn more about her other authors' aids at www.howtodoitfrugally.com, where writers will find lists and other helps on the Resources for Writers page. She blogs on all things publishing (not just editing!) at her Sharing with Writers blog.
And please tweet to your followers. We all need a little help with editing. (-: 
1 comment:
Carolyn, thanks for this --
thus, I lay the towel on the sand
and then I lie on it in the sun
-- I wish !!
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