How to Use Sit or Sat? (Which is Correct?)

August 9, 2025

5 min read

By Yash, D

Both the past tense and past participle form of sit are sat. Sit is in the present tense, and sitting is the present participle.

Past Tense Of

How to Use Sit or Sat? (Which is Correct?)

The irregular verb, sit, in text. — The irregular verb, *sit*, used in text.

What’s the past tense of “sit”?

Word Form	Examples
Past Perfect	We had sat there all evening waiting for the storm to pass. I had sat waiting in the doctor’s office for an hour before finally getting up to leave. You had sat at the top, right? The dog had sat on the bed while I was in the shower. We had sat in the theatre watching the movie until the other theatre-goers became rowdy, and we had to leave.

Word Form

Examples

Past Perfect

We had sat there all evening waiting for the storm to pass.

I had sat waiting in the doctor’s office for an hour before finally getting up to leave.

You had sat at the top, right?

The dog had sat on the bed while I was in the shower.

We had sat in the theatre watching the movie until the other theatre-goers became rowdy, and we had to leave.

Idioms with sit/sat

Idiom	Meaning
Sitting on a goldmine	To have a huge opportunity at hand.
Where you stand depends on where you sit	Your views are shaped by your circumstances.
To sit on the edge of your seat	To be waiting in high anticipation, so as to be on the edge of your seat (figuratively).
Sit like a piffy on a rock cake	To be conspicuous but left out from a group activity, and stick out.
To sit on the fence	To be undecided on something.
You can’t sit in two chairs with one butt	You can’t accomplish two things at once.
Come in and sit a spell	A way to ask someone to come in and relax.

The origin of sit

“To be or remain in that posture in which the weight of the body rests upon the posteriors” [OED], Middle English sitten, from Old English sittan “occupy a seat, be seated, sit down, seat oneself; remain, continue; settle, encamp; lie in wait; besiege” from Proto-Germanic *setjan.

Worksheet: Sit or sat?

FAQs

What’s the simple past of sit?
+

According to the post, the simple past form of the verb ‘sit’ is ‘sat’. You use this form to talk about an action completed in the past, for instance: “He went and sat beside her.”

Is the verb ‘sit’ regular?
+

No, the post states that ‘sit’ is an irregular verb. This means its past tense and past participle forms (‘sat’) do not follow the typical pattern of adding ‘-ed’.

What is ‘sat’ also used for?
+

Besides being the simple past tense, ‘sat’ is also used as the past participle form of ‘sit’. It is often used with auxiliary verbs like “had” in perfect tenses.

How to identify participle form of ‘sat’?
+

You can identify ‘sat’ as the past participle when it is used with an auxiliary verb, such as “had,” often forming the past perfect tense. Example: “The dog had sat on the bed.”

Example of ‘sat’ used in past tense?
+

The post provides examples like “He sat beside her” or “As soon as we sat down, she brought us coffee.” This form shows a completed action in the past.

Yash, D. "How to Use Sit or Sat? (Which is Correct?)." Grammarflex, Aug 24, 2025, https://grammarflex.com/whats-the-past-tense-and-past-participle-form-of-sit/.

Loading articles...

How to Use Sit or Sat? (Which is Correct?)

What’s the past tense of “sit”?

Idioms with sit/sat

The origin of sit

Worksheet: Sit or sat?