These verbs CONTINUALLY trip me up. They are so similar, that every time I write one, I highlight it and go back to my notes to make sure I wrote it correctly. Here's the scoop:

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WHEN SOMEONE LAYS SOMETHING ELSE DOWN:
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Present Tense: lay(s)
"I lay the book down"

Past Tense: laid
"I laid the book down"

Past Participle: laid
"I had laid the book down"
"The book was laid down"

Present Participle: laying
"I am laying the book down"

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WHEN SOMEONE LIES DOWN (THEMSELVES):
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Present Tense: lie(s)
"I lie upon the pillow"

Past Tense: lay
"I lay upon the pillow"

Past Participle: lain
"I had lain upon the pillow"

Present Participle: lying
"I am lying upon the pillow"

There are other situations and variants of these, but it is important to keep these simple ones straight, at minimum. A good acquisitions editor will spot mistakes like this in a trifle, and you want to look your best.

The main problem I have is with the word "The" I try to type quickly so it always winds up "Teh" It is terribly annoying to go back editing and having to fix all the "Teh's"

Thank you, Mr. Treskillard.
While we're at it, I must point out the difference between "then" and "than".
You use "then" when you're saying "Then she ran..." or "...way back then."

You use "than" when you're comparing two things. Such as "This is better than that."

I believe it's "neither of us is going anywhere." The verb refers back to the "neither" not the prepositional phrase "of us." *is a grammar freak*

Are these the correct usages of drink?

Present tense: I drink

Past tense: I drank

Past participle: I had drunk


HW appreciates grammar freaks.

I think that's right. They sound right to me, anyway, and I don't know what else they'd be.

As my mom pointed out to me: "Then" is a time-frame where "than" is a comparison.

"He walked to the store then to the bank."

"He liked the wheat bread better than the white bread."

Yes, that's what I was trying to say.
I find that my grasp of the English language is instinctive, second nature, or sub-conscious. One of those. I know what's right and what's wrong, but am not always able to verbalize it.

Hrm, I thought this went the other way. Because 'neither' is referring to more than one, as the 'us' indicates, I would have thought it "neither of us are going anywhere". I should study up on this!

I just created a thread for general grammar questions and discussions of easily confused words. viewtopic.php?f=21&t=2791

And Bush, I'm looking that up in a grammar reference book to see which way is correct.