Contact Information

This site uses the
Oxford English dictionary spelling

The Writing Centre

Moriset Hall
Room 0036 Ottawa, ON
Canada K1N 6N5

No telephone writing help available
Tel.: 613 562-5800 ext. 2267

No online writing help available
E-mail:
writcent@uOttawa.ca

 

Good Work!

Question:
The cows were laying in the field even though it was raining.
Answer:
The answer This compound verb is not correctly formed. is correct.
Explanation:
The compound verb "were laying" is transitive, but the sentence describes the position of the cows, not the act of lying down. The correct form is "were lying."

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Last updated: 2007.08.16