present tense?

[noric]

Hello, 

There is an article in today´s (Irish) Sunday´s World about a man who killed a dog describing the following:

"Its body lay undiscovered, wrapped in a plastic bag and dumped in a wheelie bin, for two days before discovered by the distraught owner."

Why is there used "lay" in the present tense?

Best regards,
noric

[Schuyler]

The "lay" in this sentence is the past tense of "to lie" (liegen), not to be confused with the present tense of the different verb "to lay" (legen):

lie/lay/have lain; he/she/it lies
lay/laid/have laid; he/she/it lays

Hello, 

There is an article in today´s (Irish) Sunday´s World about a man who killed a dog, describing the following:

"Its body lay undiscovered, wrapped in a plastic bag and dumped in a wheelie bin, for two days before discovered by the distraught owner."

Why is there used "lay" used in the present tense?

Best regards,
noric