Which usage is correct for this sentence: "I was confused about where the right path lay/laid/lie/lied."?
***** NOT A TEACHER / ONLY MY OPINION
Jimm,
Three verbs confuse many of us:
(1) To lie (not tell truth) / lied/ have lied/ am lying.
(2) To lie (on your back, etc.) lay/ has lain/ is lying.
(3) To lay (put [
something]) laid/ has laid/ was laying.
As you know, the best thing is to eliminate the answers that
are not possible.
... where the right path ___
(a) Not No. l "lie" because paths cannot tell lies!!!
(b) Not No. 3 "lay" because nobody is "putting something."
Therefore, the "right" answer (out of your four answers) is
No. 2 "lie." And since it is the past, you need
lay.
By the way, can you give the correct answer to this:
Everybody wants to know where the right path in life
____. (Use the present tense)
Yes, you are correct: lie
s. (As you know, the third person -- he, she, it
(such as a "path") -- takes the "s" in the present tense, but
not in
questions and the negative:
Does the right path
lie in being good?
The right path does not
lie in being bad.)
Thank you