Sit means to put your body into a position where your bottom rests on a surface, and the upper body is upright. We often sit on chairs, the floor, or benches. The past tense sat is used to describe this action in the past.
Conjugation and Examples
| Pronoun | Present | Simple Past | Present Continuous | Past Continuous | Present Perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | I sit | I sat | I am sitting | I was sitting | I have sat |
| You | You sit | You sat | You are sitting | You were sitting | You have sat |
| He/She/It | He sits | She sat | He is sitting | She was sitting | He has sat |
| We | We sit | We sat | We are sitting | We were sitting | We have sat |
| They | They sit | They sat | They are sitting | They were sitting | They have sat |
- I sit by the window every morning.
- Yesterday, I sat by the window and read a book.
- She is sitting on the couch right now.
- Yesterday afternoon, they were sitting outside.
- We have sat in this cafe many times.
Usage Rules
- Sit is usually followed by a preposition: sit on a chair, sit at a table, sit beside someone.
- Do not confuse sit (to rest in a seated position) with set (to place something down) or seat (to provide a place for someone to sit).
- Use sat for past simple and past participle (in perfect tenses).
- Ask questions and negatives in the past: Did you sit there? / I didn’t sit near her.
- Sit down means to take a seat; the word down emphasizes the action of moving into the seated position.
Which sentence uses the past tense of sit correctly?
I sat by the window yesterday.
'Sat' is the correct past tense of 'sit'. 'Set' and 'sitted' are incorrect in this context.
Common Phrases
- Sit down, please. (A polite command to take a seat.)
- Sit still. (Stay in one seated position without moving.)
- Sit tight. (Wait patiently.)
- The baby can sit up now. (The baby can hold themselves in a sitting position.)
- She sat through the entire lecture. (She remained seated for the whole lecture.)
Typical Mistakes
| Mistake | Correct Usage | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| I sited there. | I sat there. | Sat is the correct past tense form; sited is incorrect. |
| She sit on the chair yesterday. | She sat on the chair yesterday. | Use past tense sat for actions completed in the past. |
| Did you sat at the table? | Did you sit at the table? | After did, use the base form sit, not sat. |
| He has sit down. | He has sat down. | Past participle of sit is sat, not sit. |
| They was sitting on the floor. | They were sitting on the floor. | Use were with plural subject they in past continuous. |
Practice
- Complete the sentence: Yesterday, I _ (sit) next to my friend in class.
- Correct the error: “He sit on the bench last evening.”
- Write a question in the past tense using sit.
- Choose the right form: “We have (sat/sit) here before.”
- Use sit down in a sentence telling someone to take a seat.
- Answers:
- sat
- He sat on the bench last evening.
- Did you sit next to anyone yesterday?
- We have sat here before.
- Please sit down and make yourself comfortable.
Complete the sentence: Yesterday, I _______ (sit) next to my friend in class.
sat
'Sat' is the correct past tense form of 'sit.'
Write a question in the past tense using sit.
Did you sit next to anyone yesterday?
Use 'Did' + base verb 'sit' for past tense questions.
Summary
- Sit means to rest in a seated position.
- Past tense and past participle form is sat.
- Use with prepositions: on, at, beside, etc.
- Common phrases: sit down, sit still, sit tight.
- Avoid errors like sited or using sat after did.
Last updated: Wed Jun 18, 2025
