Why would you use laid instead of lay? Answer laid.I lay or laid my book on the table, but now I cannot find?

Question

Why would you use laid instead of lay? Answer laid.I lay or laid my book on the table, but now I cannot find?

Answer 1

Lay is to put or place. Past tense is laid. Past Perfect is have laid.

Lie is to recline or rest. Past tense is lay. Past Perfect is have lain.

Here are sentence examples:

Today, I will lay the book on the table.

Yesterday, I laid the book on the table.

I have laid the book on the table every day this week.

Today, I will lie on my bed.

Yesterday, I lay on my bed.

I have lain on my bed every day this week.

Answer 2

I would honestly just say I put my book down on the table, but now it isn't there.  I am not sure which form is proper here.  I would use laid if I really could not think of a substitute, but there are many other words you could use and be sure you are right:

placed, rested, put

Answer 3

LAY/LIE

You lay down the book you’ve been reading, but you lie down when you go to bed. In the present tense, if the subject is acting on some other object, it’s “lay.” If the subject is lying down, then it’s “lie.” This distinction is often not made in informal speech, partly because in the past tense the words sound much more alike: “He lay down for a nap,” but “He laid down the law.” If the subject is already at rest, you might “let it lie.” If a helping verb is involved, you need the past participle forms. “Lie” becomes “lain” and “lay” becomes “laid”: “He had just lain down for a nap,” and “His daughter had laid the gerbil on his nose.”

This paragraph is from "Common Errors in English" by Paul Brians.