Re: (In)transitive verbs

Mark J. Reed wrote:

>On Tue, Feb 10, 2004 at 04:06:23PM -0800, Costentin Cornomorus wrote:
>
>
>>>lie vs. lay
>>>
>>>
>>Another confusing verb! I personally try to avoid
>>that pair whenever I can, because I confuse them.
>>
>>
>
>That is a sign that the distinction is probably disappearing, and will no
>doubt be gone in a few generations.  But for what it's worth:
>
>to tell an untruth: lie, lied, have lied
>to recline (intransitive): lie, lay, have lain
>to cause to recline (transitive): lay, laid, have laid
>
>The fact that "lay" is also a form of "lie" is the source of much of the
>confusion.
>
>-Mark
>
>
A couple of ways to remember which is which

a) the intransitive is strong (irregular) the transitive weak  (regular)
rise rose risen     raise  raised raised or rear reared reared
fall fell fallen        fell felled felled
lie lay lain            lay laid laid
sit sat sat             set set set

b) the transitive is historically formed from the past tense of the
intransitive (with other sound changes in the case of raise/rear and set)

David Barrow

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