Infographic of verbs lay and lie in past in English. the verbs lay and lie are confusing in English. The verb lie has two meanings. To lie or to say something that is not true is a regular verb. The past forms are lied and lied. To lie or to position horizontally on a surface is irregular. The past forms of to lie are lay and lain. So you could say, I lay down and fell asleep. There is no direct object in this case. The verb to lay means to put something down. The past forms are laid and laid. The verb to lay takes a direct object. For example, she laid the food out for the dog.