When do you say "lay" or "lie"?

It's amazing how many people don't know that "lie" is a verb as well as a noun meaning falsehood. Here's how you can tell the verbs "lie" and "lay" apart: "Lay" is a transitive verb that must have an object, e.g., "Lay the book on the table." "Lie" does not take an object; it means to lie down (on your back, front or side, whichever is most comfortable!).

The parts of the two words are lay, laid, laying; and lie, lain, lying.

Examples:

"I lay my keys in the basket every time so I won't forget them. I have laid them there every day since I don't know when. I got used to laying them there when I got my first car."

"I lie down every day for a nap. I have lain down every day since I turned 60. I like lying there because it refreshes me."

I have seen a caption in the newspaper that described an accident victim "laying" in the gutter. If a pupil said something like that, my 5th grade teacher would say "Oh, you were laying an egg?" Everyone laughed and I'll wager kids that grew up with me knew the difference between "lay" and "lie."

And now so do you.