Browse Definitions :
Feature

Has lain or has laid?

Writing for Business

Published: 10 Feb 2020

Which is correct?
The United States has ____ out plans to standardize domestic smart grid development.
a. lain
b. laid


Answer: b.

Explanation:
Here are the rules for lie and lay:

LIE first person third person
present I lie in bed. She lies in bed.
past I lay in bed. She lay in bed.
perfect form I have lain in bed. She has lain in bed.
participle form I am lying in bed. She is lying in bed.

——-

LAY first person third person
present I lay the book down. She lays the book down.
past I laid the book down. She laid the book down.
perfect form I have laid the book down. She has laid the book down.
participle form I am laying the book down She is laying the book down.

Grammar Girl Mignon Fogarty lays out the rules for “lay” and “lie” and reports on yet another multiple-rock star grammar fail:

What’s that I hear, music in the background? I know I don’t normally play music, but I love Eric Clapton, and his song Lay Down Sally can actually help you remember the difference between lay and lie… [record screeching sound] because he’s wrong.

To say “lay down Sally” would imply that someone should grab Sally and lay her down. If he wanted Sally to rest in his arms on her own, the correct line would be “lie down Sally.”

We don’t have to judge Clapton on his grammar; we can still love his music and at the same time know that it’s grammatically incorrect! In fact, that helps us remember, and we can love him more.

If you’re more of a Bob Dylan fan, you can remember that “Lay Lady Lay” is also wrong. The lyrics should be “Lie lady lie, lie across my big brass bed.”

The moral of our story is: “Enjoy the music, kids, but don’t look to rock icons — not even the biggest ones — for your grammar lessons.”

 Follow us on Twitter @tao_of_grammar

Dig Deeper on Writing for Business

Networking
Security
  • Mitre ATT&CK framework

    The Mitre ATT&CK (pronounced miter attack) framework is a free, globally accessible knowledge base that describes the latest ...

  • timing attack

    A timing attack is a type of side-channel attack that exploits the amount of time a computer process runs to gain knowledge about...

  • privileged identity management (PIM)

    Privileged identity management (PIM) is the monitoring and protection of superuser accounts that hold expanded access to an ...

CIO
HRSoftware
  • employee resource group (ERG)

    An employee resource group is a workplace club or more formally realized affinity group organized around a shared interest or ...

  • employee training and development

    Employee training and development is a set of activities and programs designed to enhance the knowledge, skills and abilities of ...

  • employee sentiment analysis

    Employee sentiment analysis is the use of natural language processing and other AI techniques to automatically analyze employee ...

Customer Experience
  • customer profiling

    Customer profiling is the detailed and systematic process of constructing a clear portrait of a company's ideal customer by ...

  • customer insight (consumer insight)

    Customer insight, also known as consumer insight, is the understanding and interpretation of customer data, behaviors and ...

  • buyer persona

    A buyer persona is a composite representation of a specific type of customer in a market segment.

Close