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Which past participle would fit best in the following sentence? I've always struggled with this one.

The idea that had presented itself during the meeting had plagued him all night, and he'd ____ awake dwelling on it until...

My gut says the correct word would be "laid," but "lain" sounds like it could be right as well.

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Lain is correct.

Lain is the past participle of Lie.

Laid is the past participle of Lay.

You Lie on the bed reading the book.

You Lay the book on the bed.

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  • Ah, perfect. That makes sense. Thanks for the explanation!
    – EJF
    Commented Apr 29, 2016 at 18:45
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    Oops, the past tense of lie is lay. Lain is the past participle.
    – deadrat
    Commented Apr 29, 2016 at 18:48
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A slightly more muscular construction might avoid the triple past participle.

"The idea that had presented itself during the meeting plagued him all night, and he lay awake dwelling on it until...

"Had lain" is correct, but it just sounds sort of, well, lame, at least to my ears. The revision would set the "idea" off better as something remote and bothersome, with a life of its own. I would have to see the rest of the writing to make a more informed judgment.

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    This is a case of language in transition, in which those of us who are educated about the "correct" form of a word also realize that it's starting to sound stilted, and is being replaced by a so-called "incorrect" form in common usage. However, more important is the misuse of the past perfect tense in the original sentence. This tense is used when you want to show one action preceded the other(s); here it sounds like they all preceded something else. That's why David's improvement is really what you're looking for.
    – Steven Littman
    Commented Apr 29, 2016 at 20:50

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