What is the past tense of lay?
By: Teacher Sierra from AmazingTalker
Today, I will teach you the past tense of lay and how to conjugate the verb. The verb conjugation is very easy!
Lay is the present tense verb, and it means to place or to put something down. Lay is also used when certain animals (birds, insects, reptiles, or amphibians) produce eggs.
The past tense of lay is laid. This is the verb conjugation:
Verb Conjugation Past Tense: Laid | |
Singular | Plural |
I laid | We laid |
You laid | You two or you all laid |
He, she, or it laid | They laid |
Let’s look at some examples.
Examples
Example 1
The chicken laid some eggs.
Example 2
*He laid his head down on the pillow.
Note: Laid down is a phrasal verb in the past tense.
Example 3
The girl laid her head on the boy’s shoulder.
Example 4
They laid the tools on the floor.
Example 5
*The newspaper company laid off many workers.
Note: Laid off is a phrasal verb in the past tense. In this case, laid off means to end, quit, or stop workers’ employment.
Example 6
We laid our pencils down on the desk after we finished our test.
Example 7
I closed my notebook and laid it aside.
Conclusion
Conjugating lay into past tense is very easy. You will only use laid.
Practice Time
Can you think of a sentence using the word “laid”?
taught: past simple tense of teach
tought: doesn't exist It's a misspelling.
tough: strong, hard
Pronunciation
taught
sounds like /tot/
rythms with /ought, not, shot, pot/
tough
sounds like /tuf/
rythms with /muff, shuff, puff/
Sample sentences
taught
My dad taught me to ride a bike when I was six.
Ms. Simpson taught at Sunshine Kindergarten for 20 years.
tough
The meat has been left in the oven for too long. It is too tough to eat.
I can carry my heavy textbooks in this tough leather bag.
Boys are often conditioned to be "tough" and not allowed to cry.
Bonus phonics tips!
/gh/ can make different sounds.
In taught, it is silent.
In tough, it makes an /f/ sound.