In each of the following sentences four words or phrases have been underlined. One underlined part in each sentence is not acceptable in standard English. Pick up that part and mark its number.
He laid(1) for an hour(2) in an unconscious state until(3) a policeman picked him up.(4)
Solution
The corrected sentence is: "He lay for an hour in an unconscious state until a policeman picked him up." This correction is needed because "lay" is the past tense of the intransitive verb "to lie" (rest/recline), whereas "laid" is the past tense of the transitive verb "to lay" (put down).
The word lay and its form are incorrect usage here because it refers to placing something or putting something down. Hence, an inanimate object or direct obejct is laid down, since lay is a transitive verb.
Example- Raman laid the book down.Â
