Can you name the correct verb to complete each sentence: lay or lie?

created by slipkid

Enter a 'lay' or 'lie' in the box below
Correctly named verbs will show up below
Click any empty Sentence or Lay or Lie? to answer for that location
Some wrong answers will appear in red
Source: grammar-monster.com
Need to review before taking this quiz? Just click on the above source link for a refresher.
Also try: 27 Most Common English Verbs

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Sentence	Lay or Lie?
Don't just _____ there, get up!
Yesterday, she _____ on the couch all day.
I think I'll _____ low for a while.
_____ on the ground and look at the stars.
You should _____ down because you look tired.
I _____ on the floor earlier today because my back hurt.
They just _____ around the house all last weekend.
The pigs _____ in the mud yesterday after the rain.

Sentence	Lay or Lie?
Last night I _____ awake and couldn’t sleep.
It’s nice to _____ by the pool on a hot day.
Please _____ the books on the shelf.
_____ down your weapons and put your hands up!
He'll _____ down for 20 minutes after lunch.
I only want to _____ in bed when I'm sick.
Have you ever seen a chicken _____ an egg?
_____ your cards on the table.
They just _____ around the house all last weekend.
The pigs _____ in the mud yesterday after the rain.
Last night I _____ awake and couldn’t sleep.
Have you ever seen a chicken _____ an egg?
Please _____ the books on the shelf.
He'll _____ down for 20 minutes after lunch.
Yesterday, she _____ on the couch all day.
I _____ on the floor earlier today because my back hurt.
_____ your cards on the table.
_____ down your weapons and put your hands up!
I only want to _____ in bed when I'm sick.
You should _____ down because you look tired.
_____ on the ground and look at the stars.
Don't just _____ there, get up!
It’s nice to _____ by the pool on a hot day.
I think I'll _____ low for a while.

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There are 45 comments for this game.
(Warning: comments may contain spoilers)

Lay vs. Lie Quiz

by slipkid

Created Dec 10, 2011 in Language
Featured Jan 26, 2013
Game Plays 31,037

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Archived comments: show them

	BonnieH:	Jan 26th, 2013 at 19:15 GMT		32 points
	I hate this particular verb but I'm happy to say I only missed two. Never really learned to use it properly though, just what sounds right. So, "lay low" sounds better than "lie low"...correct or not! :)

	selene314:	Jan 26th, 2013 at 19:17 GMT		-3 points
	It's not the present tense that's difficult; it's using "laid" as the past tense of both these verbs.

	georgexu79:	Jan 26th, 2013 at 19:27 GMT		30 points
	"laid" is only the past tense of "lay." "lay"is the past tense of "lie." If you use have before either in the past tense, it is "have laid" for lay, and "have lain" for lie.

	TimeAndTide:	Jan 26th, 2013 at 19:31 GMT		32 points
	The lie vs. lay issue was definitely stressed in my 7th grade language arts class, and once I learned the difference, I almost never made the mistake again. I won't lay to you, though; I can't lie claim to being perfect. Sometimes my efforts to use these words correctly lie an egg. But I won't be complacent and let sleeping dogs lay. When grammarians lie down the law, I won't lay down on the job, but will strive to stamp out these accursed usage errors where they lay ... lie? ... lay? ... Oh hell!

	Jaspers:	Jan 26th, 2013 at 19:37 GMT		44 points
	Now I want some potato chips.

	guyborab:	Jan 26th, 2013 at 19:41 GMT		3 points
	I just can't believe this! This whole quiz is a complete lay! Damn, I STILL can't get this right!

Comment below threshold: show it

	comprisedpuma:	Jan 26th, 2013 at 20:29 GMT		14 points
	@tmorrison: while "lay low" can be grammatically correct, it would assume a past tense, such as "Last Saturday, I lay low and enjoyed the weekend". But since the problem in question is in future tense, "lay low" is nothing more than a colloquial miscalculation.

	martipost:	Jan 26th, 2013 at 20:31 GMT		5 points
	I had no idea that when defined as "to be in, or move into, a horizontal position", the past tense of lie is lay. I love what I learn from Sporcle quizzes! Grammar Girl has been a big help, too.

	betybakflip24:	Jan 26th, 2013 at 22:04 GMT		9 points
	I got quite a few wrong and then I researched the difference. After reading up on it I redid the quiz, and got them all right. This quiz helped me correct my grammar. Thank you!!

	ABX2149:	Jan 26th, 2013 at 22:05 GMT		13 points
	Should incorporate lye into the quiz.

	unkpoker:	Jan 26th, 2013 at 22:26 GMT		12 points
	And lei

	willwoodlen:	Jan 26th, 2013 at 23:35 GMT		6 points
	No big deal choosing the wrong one in conversation, but there's no excuse for professionals such as newscasters using the wrong verb by, for example, describing a victim "laying in the street." You're my favorite for creating this quiz, and that's no lie.

	irishailish:	Jan 26th, 2013 at 23:51 GMT		0 points
	Thought this was very easy. You'd know by the sound of it straight away. I frequently mix up effect and affect in sentences.

	beerslayer:	Jan 26th, 2013 at 23:55 GMT		5 points
	This quiz should be required with a passing score of at least 95% for anyone attempting to graduate from the 8th grade.

	limeade:	Jan 26th, 2013 at 23:56 GMT		6 points
	Very nicely constructed quiz. For those who think they hate this verb, step one is to understand that this involves two different verbs.

	hubbim:	Jan 27th, 2013 at 00:57 GMT		1 point
	I just can't picture Eric Clapton singing "Lie-la".

	jpahk:	Jan 27th, 2013 at 01:38 GMT		10 points
	"lay low" can also be a present-tense verb, but it's a transitive one, meaning to knock down with a punch (as opposed to "lie low", intransitive, which means to stay out of sight). i was actually very much expecting to see that usage here on the quiz, which feels kind of incomplete without it.

	14dedeol:	Jan 27th, 2013 at 02:11 GMT		1 point
	got them all Woot woot :P

	tdutch712:	Jan 27th, 2013 at 02:15 GMT		6 points
	well that was embarrassing.

	Ubbiebubbie:	Jan 27th, 2013 at 03:30 GMT		7 points
	Yes! More people need to know the difference!

	KDLberg:	Jan 27th, 2013 at 03:34 GMT		4 points
	The way I remembered which was the transitive and the intransitive was that Bob Dylan is wrong. "Lay lady lay" only works if he owns a chicken named Lady and Bob wants eggs for breakfast.

	TAR2:	Jan 27th, 2013 at 03:49 GMT		3 points
	Strange how the percentages are going in the results. For example, #4, 8, 9, 10, and 15 are all the same usage. One would think that if you didn't know which verb to use for one of those, you wouldn't get the others either. The percentages for those sentences are ranging from 60% to 84% though.

	selene314:	Jan 27th, 2013 at 04:09 GMT		2 points
	@TAR2 I suspect that people get one or two wrong and then realize how to answer the others correctly. Each usage appears so many times that it would take tremendous stubbornness to get them all wrong.

	Vaurien:	Jan 27th, 2013 at 15:20 GMT		0 points
	I find it confusing that #1, 3, 6, 7 and 9 have "lay" as the correct answer, as the verb here is "to lie". I think the quiz should be called "Can you name the correct verb form", as opposed to "the correct verb"; it would be less ambiguous.

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	imclala:	Jan 27th, 2013 at 17:09 GMT		6 points
	No, it's not. Everybody says it, but it is not correct.

	TimeAndTide:	Jan 27th, 2013 at 19:31 GMT		7 points
	@tmorrison: The example you give is not grammatically correct, although I'll admit it is in common usage. The verb "to lay", meaning "to put down (gently)", is transitive and thus must have a direct object: e.g., Bob lays his groceries on the table. The verb "to lie", meaning "to recline" or "to remain in a given state", is intransitive and thus may not have a direct object: e.g., Bob lies on the sofa. In the example you gave, the fugitive is remaining in a given state in order to fly under the radar, so it's grammatically "lie low" in that case, not "lay low". The confusing part is that the word "lay" also happens to be the past tense of "lie": e.g., Yesterday Bob lay in bed all day. So comprisedpuma's comment points out that "lay low" is grammatically correct only when used as the past tense of "lie low". That all said, the grammatically incorrect expression "to lay low" is in such common use that it sounds correct to the ear and has essentially become an idiom.

	TimeAndTide:	Jan 27th, 2013 at 19:43 GMT		1 point
	Another point I meant to make: There is another context in which "lay low" is grammatically correct. There is an expression "to lay someone low", meaning "to incapacitate or disempower someone": e.g., "It's amazing how a mere cold can lay me low." Usually the direct object is interposed between "lay" and "low", as is "me" in the previous example. However, it's frequently desirable to switch that usual ordering: e.g., "A stock market crash will surely lay low all investors." So that's a context in which "lay low" is not the past tense of "lie low", but is nevertheless grammatically correct.

	Lexistential:	Jan 27th, 2013 at 19:53 GMT		2 points
	I had a teacher who taught us the tip: "people lie, objects lay". I've always found it really helpful because then you only have to worry about the tense.

	comprisedpuma:	Jan 27th, 2013 at 23:07 GMT		2 points
	@tmorrison: Sorry, it's not grammatically correct in that usage. It's very commonly said that way though: just one of English's famous solecisms.

	ezois:	Jan 27th, 2013 at 23:59 GMT		4 points
	I don't know where your teacher got that saying. Objects just lie there unless you lay them somewhere else.

	RainbowTiger:	Jan 28th, 2013 at 00:17 GMT		2 points
	Has anyone else got the chorus of Simon & Garfunkel's "I am a Rock" running through their head?

	Strummer174:	Jan 28th, 2013 at 03:01 GMT		5 points
	RainbowTiger, I believe you're thinking of The Boxer, no?

	shampoowoody:	Jan 28th, 2013 at 20:29 GMT		2 points
	i learned this trick in high school english as to how to differntiate between the two: "a lady never gets laid." meaning when needed to choose between either lay or lie, the human form gets "lied" to. lol

	Kiyoshi:	Jan 28th, 2013 at 22:08 GMT		-2 points
	Is there a difference here between American and British English? In the UK we would say "laid" for the past tense ones.

	churchgeek:	Jan 29th, 2013 at 00:42 GMT		0 points
	To add to the "lie low" confusion, anyone else here familiar with the Shaker hymn, "Lay Me Low"? If not, the Nick Cave song of the same name (not at all the same song) will also do. In both cases, the verb is transitive; it's referring to someone else laying you down, in which case you're an object (e.g., in the Nick Cave song, a dead body). I'm as clueless as anyone about what the Shaker hymn is about!

	Sam_Hattz:	Jan 29th, 2013 at 14:30 GMT		2 points
	@Kiyoshi We're all in the same boat for this one; the difference (and confusion) exists in the UK as well. Laid is the past participle, but not the simple past tense.