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Show yesterday or you have "lain" down at some previous time. You "lay" your coat down to day, you "laid" it down yesterday. The Youth's Companion puts it this way: A man cannot set on a wash bench, but he could set the basin on it, and neither the grammarians or the basin would object. He could sit on the dog's tail if he were willing, or he might set his foot on it. But if he should set on the aforesaid tail, or sit his foot there, the grammarians as well as the dog would howl. And yet the man might set the tail aside 1 and then sit down, and be assailed neither by the dog nor by the grammarians. gram-marians. Ex. A Little Grammar. Boys and girls look out that you do not get into the habit of using "set" for "sit", and "lay" for "lie." These are very common errors of speech, and when you once get into the habit of using them it is hard to break up, like all bad habits. You can "lie" down, but you must "lay" your coat down. You can "sit" down, but you must "set" your hat down. You can "set" a hen but she must "set" on the eggs. You "lie" down to-day, you "lay" downi |