Akademik

Lay means "to place" and is a transitive verb requiring an object. Lie, in the context here, means "to recline," is intransitive, and takes no object."I shall lay the rug on the floor." "Please lie down here." The principal parts of lay are lay, laid, laid, laying; the principal parts of lie are lie, lay, lain, lying. Among hackneyed expressions employing lay and lie may be cited "lay down the law," "lay of the land," "lay oneself open," "lay by the heels," "lay down one's life," "lay heads together," "lay one's cards on the table," "lay a course," "lay about one," "lay for," "lay it on with a trowel (or shovel)," "lay it on thick," "lie down on the job," "lie low," "take lying down," "lie in wait," and "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." See also laid.