The correct use of LAY or LIE...help

[4kids4me]

We got an email from someone thanking our coaches for a good time at a recent hockey tournament. The person mistakenly said, "Thanks to the couches," to which one coach replied in a funny way:

 

Man, I feel sat on, lied on, jumped on. But I guess that is what being a couch is all about.

 

I was laughing but realize that he's used the word LIE incorrectly. How should he have worded it?

 

layed on?

lain on?

 

Even *I* get this confused...and dd just did this in grammar!

[SquirrellyMama]

I'm going to go with lain on. I also have a lot of trouble with lay and lie.

[Nakia]

My oldest just reviewed this in grammar as well, and I always have a hard time with it! Lay means "to put or place something" and requires a direct object, and lie means "to rest or recline" and never takes a direct object. This is according to R&S grammar 5. I don't know which form he should have used, but I'm thinking lain, but it require a helping verb, so heck, I don't know.

[4kids4me]

My oldest just reviewed this in grammar as well, and I always have a hard time with it! Lay means "to put or place something" and requires a direct object, and lie means "to rest or recline" and never takes a direct object. This is according to R&S grammar 5. I don't know which form he should have used, but I'm thinking lain, but it require a helping verb, so heck, I don't know.

 

So he could have said:

 

I feel sat on, lain on....

 

ETA: the more I look at it, the more I wonder if that really is correct....I feel sat on, laid on....????

Edited December 1, 2010 by 4kids4me

[SquirrellyMama]

So he could have said:

 

I feel sat on, lain on....

 

ETA: the more I look at it, the more I wonder if that really is correct....I feel sat on, laid on....????

 

According to Grammar Girl

 

Lie (present), Lay (past), Lain (past participle)

Lay(present), Laid (past), Laid (past participle)

[Laurie4b]

Lie is something you do without a direct object: I lie down every morning, yesterday I lay down at noon for a quick nap, I have lain down for a nap every afternoon since I became pregnant.

 

Lay is something you do to something:

 

I lay my keys on the table in the hall each time I come in the house; yesterday, I laid my keys on the table, I have laid my keys somewhere--now where are they?

 

I didn't get it right till Rod and Staff grammar~

 

I think the verb "feel" is functioning like a "to be" verb in the passive voice and so takes the past participle which would be lain. I feel lain on . I *think*. :0

 

There are other funny errors the author could have made with these verbs!

[Laurie4b]

So he could have said:

 

I feel sat on, lain on....

 

ETA: the more I look at it, the more I wonder if that really is correct....I feel sat on, laid on....????

 

Try substituting the verb "was" I was sat on; I was jumped on, I was lain on.

 

Since we aren't lain on too often, it does indeed sound funny!

[4kids4me]

Try substituting the verb "was" I was sat on; I was jumped on, I was lain on.

 

Since we aren't lain on too often, it does indeed sound funny!

 

Ok, so looking down at what a couple posters are saying...we're only using the past, not past participle as he only said he felt something, and we're using a form of LAY...so the answer is:

 

I feel sat on, laid on.

 

Are we all in agreement???? :)

[Nakia]

Ok, so looking down at what a couple posters are saying...we're only using the past, not past participle as he only said he felt something, and we're using a form of LAY...so the answer is:

 

I feel sat on, laid on.

 

Are we all in agreement???? :)

 

I don't think so because laid is a form of lay, which requires a direct object. I think lain is correct.

[4kids4me]

I don't think so because laid is a form of lay, which requires a direct object. I think lain is correct.

 

But someone actually laid on him, so HE'S the direct object of someone else's body, no? (That's why he said he felt lied on...'cause someone was on him.)

 

So knowing more info, do you agree now???? :D

 

This is me trying to figure it out.... :confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

[Laurie4b]

Ok, so looking down at what a couple posters are saying...we're only using the past, not past participle as he only said he felt something, and we're using a form of LAY...so the answer is:

 

I feel sat on, laid on.

 

Are we all in agreement???? :)

 

I don't agree (as least not yet) . If it is simple past tense, the correct form would be lay (not laid) . Most posters have chosen "lain" which is the past participle.

 

I think it's lain because you use the past participle for the passive voice. In this case, the verb to feel is functioning in the same way that the verb "to be" would function in the sentence: as an intransitive verb. For instance:

 

I was jumped on.

I felt jumped on.

The pie was good.

The pie tasted good.

I am well.

I feel well.

 

The key is that you can substitute the verb to be for the instransitive sensory verb. It is not the verse feel used with a direct object: I felt his head and it was warm. It is feel used in place of the verb to be. I feel sick.

 

I *think* that the sentence is in the passive voice. I was jumped on (as opposed to "he jumped on me") . Substitute feel: I felt jumped on.

 

In the passive voice, the past participle is used, which for the verb "to lie" is lain.

[Laurie4b]

But someone actually laid on him, so HE'S the direct object of someone else's body, no? (That's why he said he felt lied on...'cause someone was on him.)

 

So knowing more info, do you agree now???? :D

 

This is me trying to figure it out.... :confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

 

No--he is not the direct object of someone's body :) at least not in grammar cause a direct object receives the action of a verb--not the action of a noun.

 

I lie on my bed. Yesterday, I lay on my bed. I have lain in bed all day.

 

I lay my keys on the bed. (see--keys are the direct object--bed, which is an object of the preposition, is where the keys were deposited. ). Yesterday, I laid my keys on the bed. I have laid my keys on the bed every day for the last week.

 

Try it with the verb to run. Today I run. Yesterday I ran. I have run (past participle) every day for a week.

 

I felt ....ran over? Or I felt run over? See--it's the past participle.

[jenn-]

And this is why I always grab the answer key when she does this in grammar...

[4kids4me]

And this is why I always grab the answer key when she does this in grammar...

 

Well this is when school meets real life...there is no answer key!!!!! :lol:

[4kids4me]

No--he is not the direct object of someone's body :) at least not in grammar cause a direct object receives the action of a verb--not the action of a noun.

 

I lie on my bed. Yesterday, I lay on my bed. I have lain in bed all day.

 

I lay my keys on the bed. (see--keys are the direct object--bed, which is an object of the preposition, is where the keys were deposited. ). Yesterday, I laid my keys on the bed. I have laid my keys on the bed every day for the last week.

 

Try it with the verb to run. Today I run. Yesterday I ran. I have run (past participle) every day for a week.

 

I felt ....ran over? Or I felt run over? See--it's the past participle.

 

So, the answer is: I felt sat on, lain on....

 

So confusing, but I'm getting what you're saying about "felt."