Lie & Lay | Rise & Raise | British English Vs American English | Grammar & Vocabulary Lesson

Is it: I lie on my bed? Or: I lay on my bed?

Do we say: Prices have risen or prices have raised?

Hello and welcome everyone, this is Minoo at Anglo-Link.

It's easy to confuse 'lie' and 'lay' and 'rise' and 'raise'.

Especially because they're used differently in British and American English.

So, in this lesson we're going to review these verbs and make sure that you have no confusion in how to use them correctly.

Before we start, a quick reminder that focused listening activities are a great way to improve your speaking skills.

You can learn more about this in my guide,  which you can download using the link in the description box.

So, now let's look at these four confusing verbs starting with.... 'lie' and 'lay'.

What sounds right to you: I lie on my bed or I lay on my bed?

Well actually, they're both correct!

In British English we say: I lie on my bed.

Whereas, in American English we say: I lay on my bed.

So, let's look at the verb 'lie' in British English,

and figure out what the Past tense and the Past Participle are.

For example: Yesterday  I ..... on my bed. What's the Past Simple form.

And, the Past Participle in a sentence like: I  haven't ..... in the sun for the past five years.

Let's see if you can fill in these two blanks.

Let's look at the answers.

Yesterday, I lay on my bed.

And, I haven't lain in the sun for the past five years.

So, It's lie, lay (past simple), and lain (past participle).

So, how about American English?  What are the Past Simple and Past Participle forms in American English? 

Look at the two sentences again:

Yesterday I ..... on my bed. And I haven't ..... in the sun for the past five years.

And the answers are laid and laid.

Yesterday I laid on my bed.

And: I haven't laid in the sun for the past five years.

So, we have lay, laid, laid.

So, 'lie' in British English, and 'lay' in American English are intransitive verbs.

We don't need an object after them.

I lie or I lay on my bed.

But there's also a transitive version of this verb.

For example,  if you want to put your clothes on your bed, what should we say now?

I ..... my clothes on the bed.

And the answer is again the verb 'lay'. I lay my clothes on my bed,

both in British and in American English.

And the Past and Past Participle forms are the same: lay, laid, laid.

Other examples:

Our hen laid five eggs yesterday. Or: I've laid the table.

And coming back to 'lie', don't forget that the verb 'to lie' has a second meaning,

which is say something that's not true.

For example: He always lies about his age.

And the Past tense and Past Participle are regular: lie, lied, lied. 

Right! That's all for the verbs 'lie' and 'lay'.

Let's have a look now at the verbs 'rise' and 'raise'.

To rise is to go up. So, in both British and American English, it's an intransitive verb.

For example: His salary rises once a year.

So, let's see what the Past Simple and Past Participle forms are.

For example: His salary ..... last year.

Or: His salary has just .....

The answers are 'rose' and 'risen'.

His salary rose last year. And: His salary has just risen.

So, we have rise, rose, risen.

And the transitive version of this verb is 'raise'.

They raise his salary once a year.

So, what are the Past Simple and Past Participle forms?

And the answer for both forms is 'raised'.

They raised his salary last year.

And: They've just raised his salary.

So, it's a regular verb: raise, raised, raised.

And I'd like to end with just one other point,  which is about 'rise' and 'raise' as nouns.

In British English we say: He's got to pay rise.

But, in American English they say: He's got a pay raise.

Right! That's the end of this lesson.

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Thanks a lot for watching,  and I'll see you very soon in my next lesson.

Goodbye for now.