Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA |
|---|---|
| estar sentado | /estaɾ sentado/ (from spelling rules) |
| seer | /seˈeɾ/ |
The phrase estar sentado is used to describe the state of a person being in a position where the upper body is upright and the legs are supported.
Which one should you use?
Spanish distinguishes between the action of sitting and the state of being seated. Use sentarse to describe the action of moving from a standing to a sitting position, whereas estar sentado describes the state of already being seated.
How does it change in a sentence?
When using the reflexive verb sentarse to describe the action of sitting down, the reflexive pronoun se is required for the third person, such as in se sienta (he/she sits down). Additionally, the participle sentado must agree in gender and number with the person who is sitting, appearing as sentado, sentada, sentados or sentadas.
How do you pronounce it?
/estaɾ sentado/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often use sentar to mean 'to sit', but sentar is a transitive verb meaning to seat someone else. To describe oneself sitting, one must use the reflexive sentarse or the state estar sentado.
Did you know?
- Spanish uses the verb sentar to describe the effect of food on the stomach. If a meal no me sentó bien, it means the food disagreed with you or made you feel sick.
- While sentarse is used for people, the verb sentar can also mean that a piece of clothing 'fits' or looks good on someone, such as in the phrase le sienta bien.
- The English word 'stand' is a distant linguistic relative of the Spanish verb estar, which is used to describe the state of being seated.
Examples in context
- Estoy contento de estar sentado aquí fuera charlando contigo.I'm happy to sit out here and chat with you.This sentence shows the use of estar sentado to express being in a seated position while chatting.Tatoeba #5704660 by arh, translation #2044951 by CK
- ¿Cuántas horas vas a estar sentado frente al televisor?How many hours are you going to sit in front of the TV?This sentence shows how to ask about the duration of someone being in the state of estar sentado.Tatoeba #10787473 by megamanenm, translation #2638940 by Joseph
- No quiero estar sentado en este banco.I don't want to be sitting on this bench.
Example conversation
Mateo and María are in a waiting room.
- MateoMe duele la espalda de estar sentado.My back hurts from sitting.
- MaríaPuedes levantarte y caminar un poco.You can stand up and walk a bit.
- MateoTienes razón, lo haré ahora.You are right, I will do it now.
- MaríaYo también quiero dejar de estar sentada.I also want to stop sitting.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “sit” translations and entries seer, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries estar, sentado, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
