Month: October 2012

by Jennie Ruby  

Two words have seldom been more confusing than the two verbs lay and lie. Yes, they are actually two different words, but the first area of confusion is that the simple past tense of lie is spelled exactly the same as the word lay. Not only that, but the main difference between the word lie and the word lay is that lie is intransitive and lay is transitive–a grammatical concept not instantly familiar to most of us. Here's how to pick the correct word every time.

Step 1. Pick which word you are using by replacing it with its synonym. If you can replace the verb with recline, you are using lie. If you can replace the verb with place, you are using lay.

Lie = rest or recline. You just do it.

I will lie [recline] on the sofa.

Lay = place. You do it TO something.

I will lay [place] the blanket on the grass.

Step 2. Pick the verb tense.

Lie: lie, lay, lying, lain

Today I lie down. Tomorrow I will lie down. Yesterday I lay down. I am/was lying down. I have lain on the sofa for an hour.

Lay: lay, laid, laying

Today I lay the papers down. Tomorrow I will laythe papers down. Yesterday I laid the papers down. I was laying the papers down. I have laid the papers down.

Here is your challenge: correct the usage of the verbs lay and lie in these sentences.

1. She said she was going to go to Cancun and lay on the beach for a while.
2. Last summer we went to the beach and lay in the sun for hours.
3. Just five minutes ago I lay the papers directly on the manager's desk.
4. Last month we lay the ground work for our new learning management system.
5. Next month we will lay the ground work for new systems to be installed over the next three years.
6. He told the dog to lay down.
7. The carpenter said he needed to lay a new foundation for our porch.
8. Yesterday we solved the problem with our new server. The answer lay in the way we had configured our start-up menu.
9. Don't worry about your future, Grasshopper. All of the answers lay within your grasp.
10. The geocache lays just 100 yards south of the river.
11. These old umbrellas have laid here in the corner for more than a year.
12. She could have laid the map on the table, but she chose to spread it out on the floor.

Results of the Apostrophes Challenge

Here are the answers to the apostrophes challenge, brought to you by Denise Kelly:

1. The carrots were on sale at the organic market today
2. We have two capital letters in IconLogic.
3. The word judgment does not have two e's.
4. Back in the 1950s writers used a lot more apostrophes.
5. How many i's are in your name?
6. Many companies find that new hires do not know the three Rs.
7. How many alibis does he need?
8.  Are you still getting tomatoes from your garden?
9. Ellie drank two coffees and a tea before the important meeting.
10.  How many OKs do I need to click?

All of these illustrate the correct and/or modern usage. The most common errors I saw in responses were using the apostrophe with the three Rs and with OKs. Modern usage guides say that capital letters do not need to be italic and do not need the apostrophe when you are making them plural. A number of respondents liked the apostrophe in alibi's. That is one where the dictionary does give alibis as the plural, but personal preference may dictate that the apostrophe makes it easier to read. Thank you to all respondents on this one: Kathryn Meloch, Jimmy Moon, Jason Neilson, Megan Seymour, Lindsey Mayer, J Dicerson, Michael Stein, Minnie Johnson, Jay Herman, Denise Kelly, Jeffrey Mcmayon, Jennifer Dolesh, Audra Lyons, Chris Zimmel, and Linda Tromanhauser

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by Jennie Ruby  

Verb agreement. On one level, it is considered elementary: one dog runs, two dogs run. But as soon as your sentences become a little more sophisticated, verb agreement becomes more challenging. For example, if I have a collective noun, such as staff, but the individual staff members act separately, do I use plural or singular? Is it

1. The staff is working on their new assignments this Monday.
2. The staff are working on their new assignments this Monday.
3. The staff is working on its new assignment this Monday.

Choice A is incorrect because I treated staff as a singular word when I chose my verb, is, and I treated staff as a plural word when I referred back to the staff using their. This mismatch is considered ungrammatical.  The correct answers are B and C, depending on whether each employee is working on a separate assignment or the whole staff is working on the same assignment.

Other problems with verb agreement occur with singular pronouns such as each, which are often followed by plural nouns. In the following sentence, each is the singular subject–don't let yourself be fooled by the word cups:

Each of the cups is decorated with a unique design.

When you start a sentence backward, by using a false subject or by starting with the verb, you may have to go hunting for the true subject later in the sentence:

There were three cups in the sink.

The true subject is cups, so the verb is the plural were.

And when you have multiple subjects in your sentence, watch out! If they are joined by the word or, you simply match your verb to the subject closest to it.

These problems and others are addressed in this week's challenge. See if you agree that verb agreement is not just for elementary school anymore! As always, please send your answers to me.

Select the correct verb from the choices in parentheses

1. The smoke (was/were) coming from the tin stovepipe atop the garage.
2. A pack of smokes (was/were) lying on the ground beside the car.
3. The class (is/are) meeting on Tuesday to discuss their projects.
4. The tree or the bushes (has/have) to be trimmed before the new driveway can be put in.
5. The electric pole and the mailbox (has/have) to be moved as well.
6. There (is/are) at least three reasons we want to attend the class.
7. Entering the ballroom after midnight (was/were) five members of the football team.
8. Smith, Michaels and Brown (is/are) the law firm representing the company.
9. Either of the curtains (is/are) a good choice for the décor of the room.
10. Neither the player nor the ball (was/were) over the goal line.

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