By popular demand, here is another grammar refresh.

Lie/Lay

“Lay” means to place something, whereas “lie” means that the object of the sentence can lie on its own.

I will lay my blanket on the bed before I lie down.

A trick I use to distinguish between these quickly is to use the word “place” as a substitute. If you can say “place” then you can say lay. If not, then it’s lie.

I will place my blanket on the bed before I place down. See how this works?

Further/Farther

As with less/few, further/farther is about the ability to measure. When the distance can be measured, say “farther”; but when the distance cannot be measured, “further” is correct.

We need to look further into this topic before we write the paper.

We walked a mile farther today than we did yesterday.

Sit/Set

A person can sit, but the verb “set” needs an object.

I set the vase of flowers on the table.

I sit in the chair.

Trying the “placed” trick can work here too.

I placed the vase of flowers on the table.

I placed in the chair.

Again, since “placed” doesn’t work in the second example, you would use “sit” as the verb.

 

I hope I helped with a few bugaboos! Happy writing!