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Usage Tip

Lay vs. Lie

Somewhere in our minds, many of us hear the faint echoes of a teacher, aunt, or mother gently correcting our use of lie or lay. For those whose memories only retain the shadows of that scene and not the substance of the language lesson, here's a brief refresher.

1) Why lay and lie are different

The actions associated with lie and lay are almost the same. But lay is transitive, meaning the action must be received by someone or something. Lie, on the other hand, is intransitive, meaning a direct object (separate receiver) is not part of the picture. The action only concerns the person who performs it.

Lay describes the action of placing an object or person on a surface. For example,

Please lay the expense report on my desk.

Lay the baby down to be measured and weighed.

Lie describes the action of placing one's own body into a reclining position. For example,

I'm going to lie down. This headache is awful!

You look a little faint; you are welcome to lie on the couch for a while.

2) The effect of inflection

The seemingly simple difference between lay and lie becomes complicated when the verbs--both irregular--are inflected. In first-person singular usage,

Lay
Present: I lay down my burdens.
Past: I laid down my burdens.
Present perfect: I have laid down many a burden.

Lie
Present: I lie down for a nap.
Past: I lay down for a nap.
Present perfect: I have lain down for a nap every afternoon this week.

Fortunately, there is very little variation between persons: only the third-person singular is slightly different.

Lay
Present: Sheila lays down the law.
Past: Sheila laid down the law.
Present perfect: As a sheriff's deputy, Sheila often has laid down the law.

Lie
Present: Sheila lies down with a headache.
Past: Sheila lay down with a headache.
Present perfect: Sheila has lain down with a headache and woken up with chenille imprints on her face.

3) A simple spelling rule

When combined with -ing to create a progressive, lie takes a spelling change.

Bert is lying [not "lieing"] on the sofa, eating chips, and watching football.

Like its infinitive and most of its present forms, this form's spelling is identical to that of the word describing the act of fabricating a story. However, context easily clarifies meaning. A reader will not mistake Bert's prone state for a false one merely because of the spelling.

Now, lay down your fears about confusing these verbs. Just lie still briefly while your mind files away these details.

Word-wise Challenge

This issue, the Challenge is Word Mining: given the letters of one word, extract as many smaller words as possible. For example, if given the word prevarication, these are just a handful of the dozens of words you may mine:

The rules are somewhat similiar to Scrabble© rules: no proper nouns, no unadopted foreign words, no one-letter entries. But unlike in Scrabble©, there is no individual letter-point value awarded; every valid whole word counts once.

The person who generates the longest valid list will win this Challenge. Lists must be submitted by March 23, 2008, to be considered. The winning list will appear in its entirety in the March 30, 2008, issue. As always, the winner will receive two hours of complimentary Admin Maven services.

Ready to roll? The word you're mining is cartographer.

Language Corner

3 Exercises to Invite Inspiration

Every once in a while, a piece comes along that writes itself. I sit down to put an idea into words, and everything flows so naturally that it's practically effortless.

But those moments of instant creativity are exceedingly rare. And their source is impossible to pin down. No one can tell you precisely how to manufacture more magical verbal leaps.

Ask anyone who writes and is willing to give an honest answer, and you'll hear that 99% of writing is work. Time consuming work. The kind of work that gives rise to sayings like "keeping my nose to the grindstone." The kind of work that makes a person lie awake at night, mulling over disparate phrases that are related but refuse to play nicely. A piece of writing in the making is not necessarily an unpleasant labor, but it is a labor nonetheless, and until it is complete, it has a way of occupying more than its fair share of mental real estate.

On all those days when the Literary Aha Moment doesn't arrive on time, we could use other sources of inspiration. Sometimes this just requires focusing on new material for a while to give the mind a much-needed break.

With tongue loosely ensconced in cheek, I offer these writing exercises.

Practice writing sparsely.

Recall a recent incident, then try writing it effectively in the briefest form possible. Replace long technical terms with short common ones. Prune prepositional phrases that are not absolutely necessary. Toss out the adjectives altogether. Use only simple sentences if you use whole sentences at all.

At the end of this excercise, you may find yourself so starved for colorful phrasing that you're itching to tackle the problem writing with new purpose.

Observe.

Human behavior is a font of story-telling potential. While out in a crowd, observe a stranger for several minutes. What do his actions imply? What is the personality behind her speech? Do his posture and manner of dress reveal anything about his occupation or lifestyle? Turn your observations into a character sketch. Give the stranger a name and a backstory. Predict her future.

You may find a whole new writing project inspired by this exercise. If, that is, you manage not to be arrested for stalking first.

Play the part of the sage.

Do you know the secret to flaky pie crust? Can you program your way out of any computing conundrum? Have you found 101 uses for a broken TV remote? Are you the MacGyver of roadside breakdowns?

Whatever it is you do best, write a how-to piece about it. The more offbeat your talent is, the better. At best, this little exercise may evolve into a publishable niche-interest column. At worst, you'll end up with a wacky humor piece for your portfolio.

Now that you've taken some time to welcome your muse, best get back to work!

Articles written by AnnaLisa Michalski may be reprinted provided 1) reprint includes a clickable by-line linked to www.adminmaven.com; 2) article is reprinted in its entirety with no omissions, additions, or edits of any kind; and 3) this statement appears at article's end: "AnnaLisa Michalski is the writer of the ezine Word-wise and owner of Admin Maven, a virtual assisting service."

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