Lay, Lie

We've been through this before, but it's one of those pesky problems that will recur, you know. You must know that.

This morning at Curves Marcia said, "Say, English teacher." She was addressing me.

Me: Yes.

Marcia: The lay/lie thing. Can you tell me something that will help me know which to use when?

Me: Don't know.
I mean, there is only so much one person (me, or I, if you're a stickler) can do. I can tell her, but that doesn't mean she'll remember and forever after get it right, you know. You do know that. Right? But, of course, I had to do what I could for her.

Me again: I'll try. Lay, in the present tense, takes an object.

Marcia: A bit blank.

Me: You lay it down. But you lie down.

Marcia: Oh.

Me: But lay is also the past tense of lie, and that may be what . . . (I was going to say, confuses people. But she cut me off.)

Marcia: Oh, don't tell me about that. I don't want to hear that.

Me: Okay. Here it is. You wouldn't say, I'm going to lay down, unless it's a book. I'm going to lay the book down. But you would say, I'm going lie down.

Marcia: Okay, yes. I see. That helps a lot. My husband is always correcting me, you know.

Me: (I didn't know, but he's a lawyer, and so maybe I should have known.) So get this right, and then he won't know . . .

Marcia: He'll have to find something else to correct me on.

Me: No doubt he will. (But I did not say it out loud.)

So there you have it. Another soul set straight on the lay/lie path. May she ever stay on it.

That's what we English teachers live for, you know.