Yesterday I _________ in my room worrying about today's performance.

• A. Lie
• B. Lay
• C. Lied
• D. Lain

Answer: (B)

The idea being tested is choosing the correct past tense form of lie when it means to recline. Since the sentence places you in the past with yesterday, you need the simple past form of lie, which is lay. So the sentence reads: Yesterday I lay in my room, worrying about today’s performance. That sounds natural because lay is the past tense used for the act of lying down.

The other forms don’t fit as well here. Lie is the base form and is used in the present tense (I lie down). Lied is the past tense and past participle of lie in the sense of telling a falsehood (I lied about the performance). Lain is the past participle of lie (to recline) and would require a helping verb (e.g., I have lain) rather than standing alone in the simple past.