The King _________________ and slept for five days.

The correct answer is 'lay' which is the past tense of the irregular verb 'lie' (to recline or rest in a horizontal position). 'The King lay and slept for five days' is correct because the King is the subject performing the action of lying down. Many students confuse 'lie' (intransitive, meaning to recline) with 'lay' (transitive, meaning to place something). The past tense of 'lie' is 'lay', while the past tense of 'lay' is 'laid'. 'Lied' means to tell a falsehood, and 'layed' is a common misspelling.