Laid vs. Lied

[Tricky One]

Ok...have found the general rules that "lay" is for things.."lie" is for people. However, what if it's used in the form of "He "laid/lied" down for a nap? Can only find definitions for laid in reference to "placing something in a horizontal position"....does that apply only to things or people as well?? Cannot figure this one out. Thanks!!

[Casiopea]

lay is a transitive verb; it takes an object. For example,

Lay the books on the sofa.

Present: Chickens lay eggs.
Past: Chickens laid eggs.
Participle: Chickens had laid eggs . . . .

lie is an intransitive verb; it doesn't take an object. For example,

Lie on the sofa.

Present: Chickens lie in the sun.
Past: Chickens lay in the sun.
Participle: Chickens had lain in the sun . . . .

lay is the past tense of lie. Some speakers, if not more, though, do in fact use laid instead of lay; e.g., "He laid down last night at about 9:00", but it's not considered Standard English or what those who subscribe to traditional grammar rules would consider acceptable English. Nonetheless, that speakers - and I am one - use transitive laid down to mean intransitive lay down is a matter of (a) hyper-correction: as a past tense verb, lay just doesn't sound all that correct, so speakers add -ed to lay to give it that ol' past tense feeling, and (b) semantics: for some speakers, to lay (oneself) down is transitive because it's reflexive; e.g., "He laid (himself) down last night at about 9:00."

In short, lay, not laid or lied, is the past tense of lie.

Present: lie
Past: lay (note, but speakers are using laid.)
Participle: lain

Read more here: http://www.ku.edu/~edit/lie.html

[Shosht]

can I say I laid down the book on the table?

[Excalibur]

"lay" referring to "put something down" is conjugated:

lay -Present tense (and so Future: will lay)
laid - Past tense
have laid - Present Perfect
had laid - Past Perfect

"lie" referring to a person or animal assuming a horizontal position

lie - Present tense
lying - as in Present Continuous: "He is lying down"
lay - Past tense : "He lay down on the bed"
has lain - Present Perfect
had lain - Past Perfect

The part of the problem arises because the Present tense of one meaning happens to be the Past tense of the other.

[Barb_D]

can I say I laid down the book on the table?

Yes in terms of "laid" but to my ears it will sound a bit more natural if you say you laid the book down instead of you laid down the book.

[Shosht]

Is this correct-- She laid down to rest at 4 o'clock. Or should it be "she lay"?

[Barb_D]

Based on this thread, what is the simple past of "lie"?