The more novels you read, the more you notice. I am not a grammar nazi, but somethings just jump out at me over and over and over again. Translators/Editors... lied vs laid vs lay. Why?? She lied down on the bed. He lied down on the floor. They lied together. I see this all the time and I can't help to wonder who the editors are. Are the same people editing thousands of web novels? It bothered me so much I had to look it up to see if I was wrong. Here is what I found. Lay: She laid the blanket on the floor when I asked. Lie: I felt sick, so I lay down. So there you have it. Anyway, this ranks up there with adding an 's' to an implied plural word like work, staff, fruit, or cereal. It's unnecessary. What do you think??
idiots. its actually spelled llade. Sorry couldn't resist. I do agree it gets annoying, but its whatever.
past tense of lie down would be laid down or lay down, but there is a subtle connotation difference between lay and lie down
Maybe it's the same group of translators / editors who think that "teleportation" and "metastasis" are synonyms.
What do you mean adding an s to fruit is unnecessary? If a child is in the market and points towards a bunch of apples, and ask "What are those?" I can say "Those are fruits." And that makes total sense... Saying "those are fruit" would be wrong AFAIK.
Lay is a transitive verb (requires a direct object to act upon). You lay something down. Lie is an intransitive verb (does not require a direct object to act upon). You lie down. End of story. The confusion stems from the verb tenses (because English is a stupid, stupid language). Lay (direct objects in italics) Present: Lay. Chickens lay eggs. "Now I lay me down to sleep." Past: Laid. I laid my book down on the table before I got up. Past participle: Laid. I laid my purse down on the floor last night and forgot I put it there. Lie Present: Lie. My cat likes to lie around. (Note that there is no direct object that 'lie' is acting upon.) Past: Lay. My clothes lay strewn about the floor. (English is stupid... Note that "my clothes" are not acting upon something else. They're just doing their thing.) Past participle: Lain. It was the most comfortable bed I had ever lain in. This is straight up wrong. The 's' is only "unnecessary" if the noun is uncountable. Countable nouns can still use the 's'. Many nouns can be used in both countable and uncountable ways. All of the nouns listed above can be used in both ways, and they need to be modified in order to be used as uncountable nouns. Uncountable Please see the following examples of work. I was helped by two staff members today. I ate three pieces of fruit. I had two types of cereal for breakfast this morning. Countable These two works were created by different artists. The two companies' respective staffs are competing against each other for customers. (This one is admittedly highly uncommon and can only be used if "staff" is being used to refer to a group.) My three favorite fruits are apples, oranges, and bananas. Here is a list of breakfast cereals. Also, while the 's' might be "unnecessary" if the noun is uncountable, its use is still traditionally acceptable. The modern trend, however, is to eliminate the 's' when "unnecessary." (In American English, at least. I'm not as familiar with British English.) Edited a typo.