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SPANISH VERB

sentar

to seat

  • Irregular -ar verb
  • Gerund: sentando
  • Past participle: sentado

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

  1. yo I seat
  2. tú you seat
  3. usted, él, ella he/she seats
  4. nosotros we seat
  5. vosotros Spain you all seat
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they seat

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

  1. yo I seated
  2. tú you seated
  3. usted, él, ella he/she seated
  4. nosotros we seated
  5. vosotros Spain you all seated
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they seated

Imperfect

Pretérito imperfecto · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. yo I used to seat
  2. tú you used to seat
  3. usted, él, ella he/she used to seat
  4. nosotros we used to seat
  5. vosotros Spain you all used to seat
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they used to seat

Future

Futuro · plans and promises; in speech, “voy a hablar” is just as common

  1. yo I will seat
  2. tú you will seat
  3. usted, él, ella he/she will seat
  4. nosotros we will seat
  5. vosotros Spain you all will seat
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they will seat

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

  1. yo I would seat
  2. tú you would seat
  3. usted, él, ella he/she would seat
  4. nosotros we would seat
  5. vosotros Spain you all would seat
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they would seat

Present subjunctive

Presente de subjuntivo · wishes, doubts, “que …”

  1. yo (that) I seat
  2. tú (that) you seat
  3. usted, él, ella (that) he/she seat
  4. nosotros (that) we seat
  5. vosotros Spain (that) you all seat
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (that) they seat

Past subjunctive

Imperfecto de subjuntivo · “if I were”, “si …”

  1. yo (if) I seated
  2. tú (if) you seated
  3. usted, él, ella (if) he/she seated
  4. nosotros (if) we seated
  5. vosotros Spain (if) you all seated
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (if) they seated

Imperative

Imperativo · requests and orders; a negative one uses the subjunctive (no hables)

  1. tú seat!
  2. usted seat! (formal)
  3. nosotros seat! (let’s)
  4. vosotros Spain seat! (all of you)
  5. ustedes seat! (all of you)

How to use sentar

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    El mesero siempre nos sienta junto a la ventana.

    The waiter always seats us by the window.

  2. Past

    Sentaron a los niños en una mesa aparte.

    They seated the kids at a separate table.

  3. Imperfect

    Mi mamá me sentaba en sus piernas para leerme.

    My mom used to sit me on her lap to read to me.

  4. Future

    ¿Dónde sentaremos a la tía Lucha?

    Where will we seat Aunt Lucha?

  5. Conditional

    Yo sentaría a los abuelos cerca de la pista.

    I'd seat the grandparents near the dance floor.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Pídele a la anfitriona que nos siente juntos.

    Ask the hostess to seat us together.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Le rogué que no me sentara junto a mi ex.

    I begged her not to seat me next to my ex.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Siente al bebé en su sillita, por favor!

    Put the baby in his high chair, please!

Good to know

  • "Sentar" is to seat someone; "sentarse" is to sit down yourself. "Me sienta bien" is it suits me or it does me good.

Where you hear sentar

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

Spanish · Intermediate Level 3

  • Aquí sentamos a los novios. We seat the bride and groom here.
  • Sentamos a la tía Lucha en la mesa doce. We seated Aunt Lucha at table twelve.
  • Voy a sentar a Doña Carmen junto a mi mamá. I'm going to seat Dona Carmen next to my mom.
2
Twenty Years Without Speaking

Intermediate Level 3 · sentar

Free

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: irregular -ar verb.