»
Main Forums
»
English Workshop
»
A question about lie and lay
| English Workshop |
|
A question about lie and lay |
|
|
bboog Member
since 2000-02-29
Posts 303Valencia, California |
You've probably been asked this before, but I was wondering if the use of "lay" is correct in this context. Here goes. When Dr. Kevin Boyle opened his eyes that morning, he could sense the physical presence of danger. He could feel it laying beside him, just as he could feel his body grow tense, and how the sunlight coming through the window warmed his face. He got out of bed quickly, dragged a wooden bench over to the wall and standing on it, peered out the window to confirm his suspicions. Outside, the sleepy village of Caraba was awakening to another blazing hot day. Then he saw it. Moving along down the hilly, pot-holed, muddy road that led to the small village, came a white pickup truck. It was a Chevrolet Silverado with dark tinted windows. Sitting in the bed of the pickup were four Guatedoran peasants. They were wearing straw hats and ponchos and holding rifles. It was the death squad and it was coming for him. |
||
| © Copyright 2000 Robert Boog - All Rights Reserved | |||
|
Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648 |
Bob, I think you will find your answer to this question in a related thread from last month. I hope you can figure it out. I can't! Not that I haven't tried! /pip/Forum32/HTML/000011.html |
||
|
bboog Member
since 2000-02-29
Posts 303Valencia, California |
Denise, Thanks! I read through the thread but am afraid to change my laying to lying. I think I leave it as it stands. bboog |
||
|
Nan
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-20
Posts 21191Cape Cod Massachusetts USA |
This is a tough one, isn't it, Bob? The verb you want to use in this context is "lie" - with the principal parts being - lie, lying, lay, and (have) lain. This verb means "to recline". Your context should read "He could feel it lying beside him". "Laying" in any context would mean "putting in place". While you could argue that "lay" is the past tense of "lie", the participle for "lie" is still "lying". The correct usage here, according to interpretation of my teacher manuals would be "lying"... Geesh, wasn't that fun??....  [This message has been edited by Nan (edited 03-24-2000).] |
||
|
|
⇧ top of page ⇧ |
|
| All times are ET (US). All dates are in Year-Month-Day format. | ||
