Englishfor English speakers
lay
Verb
—
When you lay something, you place it down flat.
Sally carefully laid out her clothing on the bed.
—
When an animal lays an egg, it makes and places it outside its body.
the
Determiner
—
Used, instead of a, to reference something specific, already known to exist.
Compare "I read a book." and "I read the book."
—
Used with a stress, to show that the word following is special.
Are you the John Smith that I went to school with?
—
Used with an adjective that acts like a noun to mean all of the people concerned
The poor are always with us.
—
Used with superlatives forms of adjectives and adverbs.
You are the best.
roof
Noun
—
A roof is the top part of a building.
My five brothers, two sisters and seven cousins all live together under one roof.
roof
Verb
—
If you roof something, then you are putting a roof onto a building.
My father had to roof our house because it needed a roof.