Question

Which word in the sentence does the participial phrase modify? Lying in the grass, I counted the clouds above me. A. clouds B. counted C. grass D. I

Answer 1

There are two different participles, present and past.
Present participle = ~ing
Past participle = ~ed
Since lying ends in ~ing, it's a (present) participle.

Now the question is who/what is lying?
Well, I am, of course!
Lying modifies me, it's talking about my condition.