The Verb "Lay" in English

Conjugation of "To Lay"

The verb "lay" is an irregular verb. (This means that "lay" does not form its simple past tense or its past participle by adding "-ed" or "-d" to the base form.)

The Five Forms of "To Lay"

Form	lay	Alternative Name
Base Form	lay	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	lays	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	laid	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	laying	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	laid	[no alternative name]

"To Lay" in All the Tenses

The tables below show how "lay" conjugates in the past, present, and future tenses.

Past Tenses

Person	Simple Past	Past Progressive Tense	Past Perfect Tense	Past Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	laid laid laid laid laid laid The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.	was laying were laying was laying were laying were laying were laying The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.	had laid had laid had laid had laid had laid had laid The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.	had been laying had been laying had been laying had been laying had been laying had been laying The past perfect progressive tense is for showing that an ongoing action in the past has ended.

Present Tenses

Person	Simple Present	Present Progressive Tense	Present Perfect Tense	Present Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	lay lay lays lay lay lay The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.	am laying are laying is laying are laying are laying are laying The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.	have laid have laid has laid have laid have laid have laid The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)	have been laying have been laying has been laying have been laying have been laying have been laying The present perfect progressive tense is for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present (or finished very recently).

Future Tenses

Person	Simple Future	Future Progressive Tense	Future Perfect Tense	Future Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	will lay will lay will lay will lay will lay will lay The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.	will be laying will be laying will be laying will be laying will be laying will be laying The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.	will have laid will have laid will have laid will have laid will have laid will have laid The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.	will have been laying will have been laying will have been laying will have been laying will have been laying will have been laying The future perfect progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future.

Most Common Irregular Verbs

The two most common irregular verbs in English are "be" and "have." These pages give more details about these two verbs:

Here are the next 10 most common irregular verbs in English:

see, say, go, come, know, get, give, become, find, and think

Most Common Irregular Verbs

The two most common irregular verbs in English are "be" and "have." These pages give more details about these two verbs:

Here are the next 10 most common irregular verbs in English:

see, say, go, come, know, get, give, become, find, and think

This page was written by Craig Shrives.

The Verb "Lay" in English

Conjugation of "To Lay"

The Five Forms of "To Lay"

"To Lay" in All the Tenses

Past Tenses

Present Tenses

Future Tenses

Most Common Irregular Verbs

Most Common Irregular Verbs

Learning Resources

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