Transitive vs Intransitive verb usage be verb as auxiliary

Question

I need to know which version is correct. "The scissors are lying on the desk". "The scissors are laying on the desk".

Answer 1

The two verbs have more differences than just transitivity vs. intransitivity - they mean different (though related) things.

Lay is a transitive verb meaning "gently put down XXXX." Since it is transitive, it needs an object: Please lay the scissors on the desk.

Lie is an intransitive verb indicating that the subject is at rest: Please lie down and close your eyes.

So are the scissors themselves resting on the desk? If so, use the intransitive verb lie. If they are putting down something else [huh?] then use the transitive verb lay.

Final consideration: the present participle of lie is lying. The present participle of lay is laying.

You most likely mean to say The scissors are lying on the desk.

Answer 2

lie is intranstive, while lay is transitive. Thus:

--- The scissors are lying on the desk.

---Pete lay the scissors on the desk.

What makes this confusing is that the past tense of lie is lay, as in:

---The scissors lay on the desk for a week before anyone claimed them.

The past participle of lie is lain (uncommonly heard, at least in NA):

---The scissors have lain on that desk for over a week now.

If that sounds odd or unusual, it's probably because the other meaning of lie runs grammatical interference. With the meaning "tell an untruth," lie takes lied as both the past and past participle.

The past and past participle of lay are both laid:

---Joe laid his report on the water cooler.

---Have you ever laid your glasses somewhere and promptly forgotten where?