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Why are there tense changes in the following story:

It was recess - the best time of the day. Kids ran around the playground shouting and laughing, playing and jumping.

That is, everyone except for Stacey.

Why is this present tense?

Instead of playing, Stacey lay beneath the big tree and read her book.

Why is it lay and not lays? Why is it read and not reads? What tenses are used in this paragraph?

Barmar
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Orange Zhan
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1 Answers1

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"That is, everyone except for Stacey."
The phrase "that is" is an idiom the refers to the statements just made, not to events in the past.

The second question: "Stacey lay... and read...". Both "lay" and "read" are past tense verbs, to fit with the previous text describing past events.

Jack O'Flaherty
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    The tenses are all simple past. – Lambie Dec 16 '23 at 01:44
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    Thanks for the above. I thought that the past tense for lay is laid? But here, why is lay used and not laid? – Orange Zhan Dec 16 '23 at 02:48
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    @OrangeZhan Some verbs come in pairs: one to mean do action [A] and the other for cause [B] to do action [A]. Lie and lay are one of those pairs. The 3 principal parts for lie (intransitive: meaning "be in a flat position") are: lie, lay, lain. For lay (transitive: meaning "cause [something] to be in a flat position"), they are lay, laid, laid. So, the word "lay" can be either the past tense of "lie," OR the present tense of "lay." Which one is intended can only be determined from context. Since the context in your paragraph is past tense, that's the one it is – Quack E. Duck Dec 16 '23 at 03:01
  • @OrangeZhan See https://impertinentremarks.com/7-troublesome-verb-pairs/, also an interesting discussion here https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/598623/to-lie-and-to-lay-to-rise-and-to-raise-to-fall-and-to-fell-d for a discussion about pairs like this – Quack E. Duck Dec 16 '23 at 03:14
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    Thanks the above answers are very clear – Orange Zhan Dec 16 '23 at 07:14
  • @OrangeZhan To lie, lay, laid ( lie on the bed) and to lay, laid, laid (The waiter laid the table for two people). – Lambie Dec 16 '23 at 14:13
  • @OrangeZhan - I laid a blanket on the ground, and then I lay upon it. – Michael Harvey Dec 16 '23 at 22:41