Raise and Rise / Lay and Lie

Last week a student asked me the difference between Raise and Rise / Lay and Lie.
I prepared a worksheet for him and I decided to post it here because it might help other people too.

First, look at the pictures and the sentences. Try to discover their differences:

The horse raised its paws to see the sun rise

People rose from their chairs to applaud

He is lying down and laid the magazine on his lap

The pillow is laid on the bed


Do you already know the difference? So tell me, should we say:

 My pen was lying on the table or My pen was laying on the table???
Our dog never lies down when told to do so or Our dog never lays down when told to do so???

 Tom is so depressed that it will be hard to rise his spirits. or Tom is so depressed that it will be hard to raise his spirits??

The river rises each spring. or The river raises each spring???

 

Confused?? Let me give you the definitions:

·         Definition of to raise:  The verb raise means “to lift to a higher position.”

 Raise is transitive; it almost always has an object. Things are raised by something else.

To raise, raised, raised

 

·         Definition of to rise: The verb rise means “to go to a higher position.”

 Rise is intransitive; it never has an object. Things rise by themselves;

To rise, rose, risen

 

·      Definition of to lay: to put or place; it is transitive; it almost always has an object.

To lay (I lay the book on the table.),laid (Yesterday, I laid the book on the table.),laid (I have laid the book on the table)

To lay, laid, laid

 

·         Definition of to lie: to recline; it is intransitive; it never has an object

To lie (I lie on the bed), lay (Yesterday, I lay on the bed.),lain (I have lain on the bed for many hours)

To lie, lay, (this is the problem: the past of "lie" is "lay") lain

Leave your answers, comments or doubts down below. I'll be glad to check them and to answer your questions.