lay – English verb conjugation

English verb forms of lay

Nominal Forms

Infinitive: to lay sth in
Participle: laid sth in
Gerund: laying sth in

Cognates

-

Indicative

Present

Ilay sth in
youlay sth in
he;she;itlays sth in
welay sth in
youlay sth in
theylay sth in

Perfect

Ihave laid sth in
youhave laid sth in
he;she;ithas laid sth in
wehave laid sth in
youhave laid sth in
theyhave laid sth in

Past

Ilaid sth in
youlaid sth in
he;she;itlaid sth in
welaid sth in
youlaid sth in
theylaid sth in

Pluperfect

Ihad laid sth in
youhad laid sth in
he;she;ithad laid sth in
wehad laid sth in
youhad laid sth in
theyhad laid sth in

Future

Iwill lay sth in
youwill lay sth in
he;she;itwill lay sth in
wewill lay sth in
youwill lay sth in
theywill lay sth in

Future Perfect

Iwill have laid sth in
youwill have laid sth in
he;she;itwill have laid sth in
wewill have laid sth in
youwill have laid sth in
theywill have laid sth in

Subjunctive

Present

Ilay sth in
youlay sth in
he;she;itlay sth in
welay sth in
youlay sth in
theylay sth in

Perfect

Ihave laid sth in
youhave laid sth in
he;she;ithave laid sth in
wehave laid sth in
youhave laid sth in
theyhave laid sth in

Imperfect

Ilaid sth in
youlaid sth in
he;she;itlaid sth in
welaid sth in
youlaid sth in
theylaid sth in

Pluperfect

Ihad laid sth in
youhad laid sth in
he;she;ithad laid sth in
wehad laid sth in
youhad laid sth in
theyhad laid sth in

Conditional

Present

Iwould lay sth in
youwould lay sth in
he;she;itwould lay sth in
wewould lay sth in
youwould lay sth in
theywould lay sth in

Perfect

Iwould have laid sth in
youwould have laid sth in
he;she;itwould have laid sth in
wewould have laid sth in
youwould have laid sth in
theywould have laid sth in

Imperative

youlay sth in
weLet's lay sth in
youlay sth in

Progressive (Continuous) Forms

Indicative

Present

Iam laying sth in
youare laying sth in
he;she;itis laying sth in
weare laying sth in
youare laying sth in
theyare laying sth in

Perfect

Ihave been laying sth in
youhave been laying sth in
he;she;ithas been laying sth in
wehave been laying sth in
youhave been laying sth in
theyhave been laying sth in

Past

Iwas laying sth in
youwere laying sth in
he;she;itwas laying sth in
wewere laying sth in
youwere laying sth in
theywere laying sth in

Pluperfect

Ihad been laying sth in
youhad been laying sth in
he;she;ithad been laying sth in
wehad been laying sth in
youhad been laying sth in
theyhad been laying sth in

Future

Iwill be laying sth in
youwill be laying sth in
he;she;itwill be laying sth in
wewill be laying sth in
youwill be laying sth in
theywill be laying sth in

Future Perfect

Iwill have been laying sth in
youwill have been laying sth in
he;she;itwill have been laying sth in
wewill have been laying sth in
youwill have been laying sth in
theywill have been laying sth in

Conditional

Present

Iwould be laying sth in
youwould be laying sth in
he;she;itwould be laying sth in
wewould be laying sth in
youwould be laying sth in
theywould be laying sth in

Perfect

Iwould have been laying sth in
youwould have been laying sth in
he;she;itwould have been laying sth in
wewould have been laying sth in
youwould have been laying sth in
theywould have been laying sth in

Other

Verbs conjugated like 'lay'

againsay, appay, assay, belay, enlay, forelay, foresay, forlay, forsay, gainsay, inlay, interlay, lay, mislay, mispay, missay, outlay, outstay, overlay, overpay, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)

Verbs similar to 'lay'

bay, clay, day, fay, flay, gay, hay, lab, lag, lam,

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

sexual intercourse
ball, bonk, fuck, make, screw, shag, copulate, copulate with, wap
place
put, set, deposit, locate, establish, fix, settle
appease
allay, calm, quiet, still, suppress
bet
gamble, wager, stake, risk

Antonyms

place
displace, misplace, eject, remove
appease
annoy, irritate, perturb, roil

Additional Information

Cf. Old English lecgan.

Etymology

1. O.E. lecgan "to place on the ground (or other surface)," also "put down (often by striking)," from P.Gmc. *lagjanan (cf. O.S. leggian, O.N. leggja, O.Fris. ledza, M.Du. legghan, Du. leggen, O.H.G. lecken, Ger. legen, Goth. lagjan "to lay, put, place"), causative of lie (2). Meaning "way in which something is laid" (lay of the land) first recorded 1819. Meaning "have sex with" first recorded 1934, in U.S. slang, from sense of "deposit" (which was in O.E., as in lay an egg, lay a bet, etc.), perhaps reinforced by to lie with, a frequent phrase in the Bible. The noun meaning "woman available for sexual intercourse" is attested from 1930, but there are suggestions of it in stage puns from as far back as 1767. Lay off "dismiss" (an employee) is from 1868; meaning "stop disturbing" is from 1908. To lay for (someone) "await a chance at revenge" is from 1494; lay low "stay inconspicuous" is from 1839. To lay (someone) low preserves the secondary O.E. sense. Layabout "habitual loafer" is attested from 1932. Layup, the basketball shot, is attested from 1948.
2. Inherited from Middle English leyen, leggen, from Old English leċġan (“to lay”), from Proto-West Germanic *laggjan, from Proto-Germanic *lagjaną (“to lay”), causative form of Proto-Germanic *ligjaną (“to lie, recline”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie, recline”).
3. Cognate with Saterland Frisian lääse (“to lay; to lie”), West Frisian lizze (“to lay, to lie”), Cimbrian leng (“to lay”), Dutch leggen (“to lay”), German legen (“to lay”), Limburgish lègke (“to lay”), Luxembourgish leeën (“to lay”), Yiddish לייגן (leygn, “to lay”), Danish lægge (“to lay”), Faroese, Icelandic leggja (“to lay”), Norwegian Bokmål legge (“to lay”), Norwegian Nynorsk legga, legge, leggja, leggje (“to lay”), Swedish lägga (“to lay”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (lagjan, “to lay”), Old French laier, laiier, laire (“to leave”), Albanian lag (“troop, band, war encampment”). See: Middle English 'leyen', Middle English 'leyen', Proto-Germanic '*lagjaną', Proto-Germanic '*ligjaną', Frisian, Saterlandic 'lääse', Dutch 'leggen', German, old spelling 'legen', Luxembourgish 'leeën', Danish 'lægge', Icelandic 'leggja', Norwegian 'legge', Norwegian, nynorsk 'legga', Swedish 'lägga', Old French 'laier', Albanian 'lag'.

Verbs referencing "lay"

German, old spelling legen, German, Pennsylvania lege, Norwegian legge, Norwegian, nynorsk leggja, Low Saxon leggen, Scots Gaelic laigh, Danish lægge, Luxembourgish leeën, Old French laiier, Russian ложить, Old Irish dolugai, Proto-Slavic ložiti.

Sample Sentences

  • CHAPTER III The Husband and Father Mrs. Shelby had gone on her visit, and Eliza stood in the verandah, rather dejectedly looking after the retreating carriage, when a hand was laid on her shoulder. She turned, and a bright smile lighted up her fine eyes. (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] with the same words printed upon them, were put into her hands; and she soon observed that they were similar to the ones pasted on the articles. ’ She showed her perception of this similarity by laying the label key upon the key, and the label spoon upon the spoon. She was encouraged here by the natural sign of approbation, patting on the head. (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] of his own, from time to time, with a commendable seriousness and gravity, for which he was admired by the young and blessed by the old; and it was agreed, on all hands, that “ a minister couldn't lay it off better than he did; that ’ t was reely ’ mazin ’ ! ” (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] charity, which is not so commonly a characteristic of this form of address to the Deity as it might be. That done he opened his discourse, taking for his text a passage from the Song of Solomon, laid upon the desk before the commencement of the service by some unknown member of the congregation: ‘Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on the arm of her beloved ! ’ (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] married and single, many of whom sleep upon the premises, and contract by the week for their board and lodging: the charge for which diminishes as they go nearer the sky to roost. A public table is laid in a very handsome hall for breakfast, and for dinner, and for supper. The party sitting down together to these meals will vary in number from one to two hundred: sometimes more. The advent of [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • In our private room the cloth could not, for any earthly consideration, have been laid for dinner without a huge glass dish of cranberries in the middle of the table; and breakfast would have been no breakfast unless the principal dish were a deformed beef-steak with a great flat bone [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • [...] if any such thing should happen as that Mas’r Haley's horse _should_ begin to act contrary, and cut up, you and I jist lets go of our’n to help him, and _we'll help him_—oh yes ! ” And Sam and Andy laid their heads back on their shoulders, and broke into a low, immoderate laugh, snapping their fingers and flourishing their heels with exquisite delight. (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • He laid down his paper, and went into the kitchen, and started, quite amazed at the sight that presented itself:—A young and slender woman, with garments torn and frozen, with one shoe gone, and the [...] (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] started, quite amazed at the sight that presented itself:—A young and slender woman, with garments torn and frozen, with one shoe gone, and the stocking torn away from the cut and bleeding foot, was laid back in a deadly swoon upon two chairs. There was the impress of the despised race on her face, yet none could help feeling its mournful and pathetic beauty, while its stony sharpness, its cold, [...] (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] fresh water, which is showered and jerked about, and turned on, and poured off, everywhere. The Waterworks, which are on a height near the city, are no less ornamental than useful, being tastefully laid out as a public garden, and kept in the best and neatest order. The river is dammed at this point, and forced by its own power into certain high tanks or reservoirs, whence the whole city, to the [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • and the pace of it. You can't duplicate that anywhere. And LA is much more laid back. (Faye)