Japanese 座る: sit down

The idea

座すわる is a godan verb: る becomes ります in the polite form and って in the て form. 座すわりません is polite negative and 座すわりました is polite past; the non-past can describe a habit or the future. Use に for the seat. 座すわっています usually describes the resulting seated state, not the movement of sitting down.

Examples

• わたしはいすに座すわります。I sit down on a chair.
• 今日きょうはここに座すわりません。I will not sit here today.
• 昨日きのう、窓まどのそばに座すわりました。Yesterday I sat down by the window.
• どうぞこちらに座すわってください。Please sit here.
• 先生せんせいが今いま、いすに座すわっています。The teacher is sitting on a chair now.
• 友達ともだちの隣となりに座すわってもいいですか。May I sit next to my friend?

Watch out

Although 座すわる ends in る, it is godan: use 座すわります and 座すわって, not the forms made by simply dropping る.

Try it yourself

1. わたしはいすに＿。（座すわる→ます）

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   座ります

   座すわります is the polite non-past of 座すわる; context tells whether it describes a habit or a future action.

2. ＿。（座すわる→て）

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   座って

   座すわって is the て form of 座すわる. It can join clauses or precede ください in a request.

3. いす＿座すわります。（に／を）

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   に

   に marks the position where a person sits down or stands.

Use it today

Make a new sentence with 座すわる. Change it to the polite past and identify its particle, then compare it with the table.