Lie vs. Lie & The Past Tense

There are a few English words that do not only sound alike (homophones) but also look alike when written (homographs). They are completely identical in their infinitive form, yet mean something completely different. The problematic with these words is the different past tense and conjugated forms. Of course, they help to distinguish the words. However, it is so easy to mix them up or use the same past tense for the different meanings.

 

One of these verbs is “to lie” and in this article, we will have a look at it!

 

Read more about homophones.

 

To Lie vs. To Lie

First, let’s have a look at the different meanings of the verb:

1. not telling the truth
2. being in a horizontal position.

 

Have a look at them used in a sentence portraying the respective meaning:

1. Jean lies all the time.
2. Tony lies on the bed.

 

What About “To Lay“?

Another verb quite similar to the ones above is “to lay“. The meaning of lay is related to one of the definitions of lie. Instead of describing the state of being in a horizontal position, it defines the act of (carefully) putting something down. Consider the following sentence:

1. I want you to lay the packages down on the table.

 

Conjugation Of “To Lie” & “To Lay“

Now, lets contrast the different conjugations of these verb. They differ in form in perfect, past, pluperfect and future perfect. The present as well as the future forms are identical for both meanings of lie.

	to lie → not telling the truth	to lie → being in a horizontal position	to lay → putting something down
Present	singular I lie you lie he/she/it lies plural we lie you lie they lie	singular I lie you lie he/she/it lies plural we lie you lie they lie	singular I lay you lay he/she/it lays plural we lay you lay they lay
Perfect	singular I lied you lied he/she/it lied plural we lied you lied they lied	singular I have lain you have lain he/she/it has lain plural we have lain you have lain they have lain	singular I have laid you have laid he/she/it has laid plural we have laid you have laid they have laid
Past	singular I lied you lied he/she/it lied plural we lied you lied they lied	singular I lay you lay he/she/it lay plural we lay you lay they lay	singular I laid you laid he/she/it laid plural we laid you laid they laid
Pluperfect	singular I lied you lied he/she/it lied plural we lied you lied they lied	singular I had lain you had lain he/she/it had lain plural we had lain you had lain they had lain	singular I had laid you had laid he/she/it had laid plural we had laid you had laid they had laid
Future perfect	singular I will lie you lied he/she/it lied plural we lied you lied they lied	singular I had lain you had lain he/she/it had lain plural we had lain you had lain they had lain	singular  I will have laid you have laid he/she/it have laid plural we have laid you have laid they have laid