LLaid. This is the
past tense and past
participle form only of the verb to
lay” meaning to put or place The lecturer laid the notepad aside and spoke Don’t use laid as a form of
“lie” which means being in a horizontal position and forms its past tense differently The child lay in bed asleep.”
Lain. See
lie, lay, lain.Languages. Look under speci c language names for guidance on
spelling,punctuation, accents, and other matters related to major languages (e.g.,
Arabic).Keep in mind that non-English words are usually marked by
italics or underlining,
but that many words from other languages are now used in English as native words and are unmarked in anyway Pass the pasta and pesto, please.”
Overuse of other languages in English documents can be irritating to those who don’t know the language. Avoid this practice and use non-English words for occasional
emphasis or when no genuine English equivalent will su ce: We were discussing the Russian verb perestroit, which is the form from which Perestroika comes.”
Take care as well with the overly familiar use of
non-English words or phrases,
particularly when addressing those whose rst language is not English. They might nd quite o ensive what strikes you as slangy or cute. Also, a word that entered
English at some point as acceptable usage in another language might now have become objectionable or inappropriate Howdy, Comrade (Tovarishch) Yeltsin.
Welcome to America Comrade is an English word, but in Russian it has come to have connotations of a distasteful past and should not be used. Señor can have the same e
ect with some Spanish speakers, just as señorita might prove o ensive for linguistic, political, or moral reasons. See entries for
Arabic, Asian languages, French,German, Japanese, Latin, Russian, Spanish, and other languages.
Later, latter. Later is an
adverb that refers to time My friend called later than I
expected.” Latter is an
adjective that means
second of two Of the two suits, I like the latter.”
Latin. Many
abbreviations used in scholarly and scienti c writing come from Latin.
Unless you are writing scholarly or scienti c works, you probably shouldn’t use such
abbreviations
(e.g., ibid., and
i.e.). Similarly, unless your
audience is made up of
Latin scholars, the use of full Latin phrases is not helpful to most readers. See
languages.Latter. See
later.Lay, lie. These two
verbs have di erent meanings and irregular forms that are often confused. Lay means to put or place something (usually speci ed)
and has the forms “laid” (past tense), laying (present
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