It feels as if there is no hope for me with this. [About Cat Hartliebe] [Writer’s Stuff]
I just cannot organize in my head which word to use when when it comes to lie and lay. Does anyone get this? English grammar rules are normally pretty easy to manage. Then there are the unspoken rules such as order of adjectives. A rare few rules give English “it’s the hardest language to learn” reasoning. The lie and lay nonsense is one of them.
Here’s the thing, though, most don’t know the rule. Even English speakers. Minus grammar nazis and English teachers, messing up these annoying rules means nothing. Don’t feel bad if you screw up lie and lay. Or effect and affect. Or fewer and less than. Or any of the other wacky ones. Besides tests like the SATs or professional papers <get a real editor, trust me>, you can mess up English and people can still understand you.
For those of you like me and struggle with lie and lay, I found a cheat sheet. This is stolen from the person marked on the picture. As I said, I couldn’t make up this cheat sheet if I wanted to. Any rules that catch you every single time? Post them. If you want me to find <or create> a cheat sheet for you, just ask. I’m here to help.
[Writer’s Stuff] [About Cat Hartliebe]
Cat Hartliebe 