Past tense of sit
irregular verb
The past tense of sit is sat. The past participle is also sat.
Forms of sit
| Base form (V1) | sit /sɪt/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | sat /sæt/ |
| Past participle (V3) | sat /sæt/ |
| Present participle | sitting /ˈsɪtɪŋ/ |
| Third person singular | sits /sɪts/ |
Less standard forms: sate (dated), sitten (dialectal).
Sat in a sentence
- The temple has sat atop that hill for centuries.
- Jim's pet parrot sat on his left shoulder.
- They sat on a park bench and tossed bread crumbs to the ducks and pigeons.From the entry bench
- She sat on the bench for 30 years before she retired.From the entry bench
- Queen Victoria sat upon the throne of England for 63 years.From the entry throne
Meaning of sit
- verb To be in a position in which the upper body is upright and supported by the buttocks.
- verb To move oneself into such a position.
- verb To occupy a given position.
Verbs like sit
- babysit (babysat)
Questions about the past tense of sit
- What is the past tense of sit?
- The past tense of sit is sat.
- What is the past participle of sit?
- The past participle of sit is sat.
- Is sit a regular or irregular verb?
- Sit is an irregular verb: its past tense is not formed with -ed.
- Is sate correct?
- sate is marked dated in Wiktionary. The usual past tense of sit is sat.
- Is sitten correct?
- sitten is marked dialectal in Wiktionary. The usual past tense of sit is sat.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sit (page history and authors) and the entries of its forms. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws left out forms marked obsolete, archaic, rare or dialectal and added the examples. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Past tense of sit.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/sit. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.