If you are trying to determine whether to use lie or lay, here’s how. Lie means to recline, while lay means to place, put, or deposit. Further, lay takes an object (a noun or pronoun that tells what – eggs in our example), and lie does not: Dogs don’t lay eggs, they simply lie down. Watch out for a couple of points of potential confusion. First, the past tense of lie is lay. Therefore: The hens laid eggs while the dogs lay around. Second, while lie means to recline, if you want to convey the sense of causing to recline, use lay. Therefore: Whenever the baby seems sleepy, her mother lays her in the crib.