lying

«lying» in Mova's school dictionary: resting flat on something, like lying in bed or a book… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (lie, lies, lay, lain, lying — to be flat); verb (lie, lies, lied, lying — to say what is not true); adjective (lying)

meaning for a pupil

1) Lying means resting flat on something, like lying in bed or a book lying on a table. tree →

2) Lying also means saying something that you know is not true. tree →

3) A lying person is someone who tells lies. tree →

sense in the lessons

In maths: things resting somewhere and counted: books lying on a table, coins lying on the ground; it just says where. In logic puzzles: «lying» means telling an untruth (knights always tell the truth, knaves are always lying). Safety and life: lying down when you feel dizzy; lying is wrong and breaks trust. In stories: a dog lying by the fire, a character caught lying. Phrases: lying down, lying in bed, lying around, lying on the floor, stop lying.

examples

• There are 9 apples lying on the grass. tree →
• 4 books are lying on the desk. tree →
• She found 3 coins lying on the floor. tree →
• How many shoes are lying by the door? tree →
• The cat was lying in the sun. tree →
• He was lying when he said he had done his homework. tree →
• Do not leave toys lying on the stairs; someone could trip. tree →
• If you feel faint, try lying down. tree →
• In the puzzle, one of the two boys is lying. tree →
• ‘Who’s been lying on my bed?’ tree →

note

Two different verbs share «lying»: lie (to rest flat) has past «lay» and «lain»; lie (to say what is untrue) has past «lied». Do not confuse with «laying» (putting something down: laying a table). Carries no clue; it just says where counted things are. Trap: in logic puzzles, «lying» means telling an untruth.

In the corpora

• Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling standing on a scaffold and bending his head back, not lying down.
• Banded mongooses pick ticks off warthogs lying down; a friendship where both sides gain is called mutualism.
• Imagine walking through long grass and finding a spotted fawn lying perfectly still.
• Vets treat many dogs for eating chocolate at Christmas and Easter, when there is lots of chocolate lying around the house.
• Food left lying around brings rats, flies and fights between animals.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «lying» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.