Lay/Lie/Lain

[Eryn]

Does anyone know the rule for when to use the word lain?

I remember learning about it in sixth or seventh grade. The rule for lay/lie stuck but lain never did.

[embonpoint]

"To lie: Lie/lay/lain/lying means to lie in a horizontal position.
To lay: Lay/laid/laid/laying means to put something down."

I lie. I lay (down on the bed). I have lain. I am lying.
I lay the table. I laid the table. The table has been laid. I am laying the table.

Is that any clearer? I only very rarely see "lain" used nowadays.

[Eryn]

Thank you. You managed to clear that up way better than my seventh grade English teacher ever did. I always remember my seventh grade English teacher giving some convoluted explanation of it. I may have been too caught up in my middle school angst to actually absorb the information as well, haha.