sedat si / sednout si — to sit down | Czech Grammar

"To sit down" is the aspect pair sedat si / sednout si, and the single most important thing to understand about it is that it describes a change of position — the act of lowering yourself onto a seat — not the state of already being seated. Czech keeps these two ideas in completely different verbs: you sit down (sednout si — dynamic) and then you are sitting (sedět — stative). English blurs them ("I sit," "I'm sitting"), which is exactly why learners reach for the wrong one. This page conjugates both halves of the dynamic pair and then nails the contrast with the stative verb.

The two halves, side by side

Both halves carry the reflexive si (a dative reflexive, "for oneself"). The imperfective sedat si is a regular Class V (-á-) verb, like dělat. The perfective sednout si belongs to the -ne- present class: its present-tense forms grow an -n- onto the stem (sedn-) with the -u / -eš / -e endings.

Person	sedat si (impf.) — present	sednout si (pf.) — future meaning
já	sedám si	sednu si
ty	sedáš si	sedneš si
on / ona / ono	sedá si	sedne si
my	sedáme si	sedneme si
vy	sedáte si	sednete si
oni	sedají si	sednou si

💡

The reflexive here is si (dative), not se (accusative). It's the "for oneself" reflexive: you seat yourself. Keep them apart — sednout si (sit oneself down) takes si, while many other reflexive verbs take se.

💡

The perfective present sednu si means "I'll sit down," never "I'm sitting down." A perfective verb can't describe an action in progress, so its present forms carry future meaning.

The big contrast: sednout si (sit DOWN) vs sedět (BE sitting)

Hold these three verbs apart and the whole area becomes clear:

Verb	Meaning	Type	Present 1sg
sednout si (pf.)	sit down (one act)	dynamic — change of state	sednu si (= will)
sedat si (impf.)	sit down (repeatedly / be sitting down)	dynamic — process/habit	sedám si
sedět (impf.)	be sitting, be seated	stative — no movement	sedím

sedět ("to be sitting") is a Class IV (-í-) stative verb — sedím, sedíš, sedí, sedíme, sedíte, sedí, past seděl. It describes the position you're already in; nothing moves. Compare:

Sedím u okna a piju kafe.

I'm sitting by the window drinking coffee (already seated — sedět).

Sednu si k oknu a dám si kafe.

I'll sit down by the window and have a coffee (the act of sitting down — sednout si).

The first reports a static scene; the second is a single change of position. Getting these the wrong way round is the classic error, so feel the difference: sedím = I'm already down, sednu si = I'm about to lower myself.

Celý den seděl u počítače a večer ho bolela záda.

He sat at the computer all day and in the evening his back hurt (sedět — duration, no movement).

What it governs: na / k / vedle + case

You say where you sit down with a directional phrase. The most common is na + accusative (sit down onto a seat), but k + dative ("up to" a table) and vedle + genitive ("next to") are everyday too.

Sedni si na tu židli, ta je pohodlnější.

Sit down on that chair, it's more comfortable.

Here na židli is na + accusative (židle → na židli), because sitting down is motion onto the seat. Once you're seated, the same place would take the locative (sedím na židli, also na židli but answering "where," not "where to").

Pojď, sedneme si k tomu stolu u okna.

Come on, let's sit down at that table by the window.

Sedla si vedle mě a začala vyprávět.

She sat down next to me and started telling a story.

The past tense

Both halves build the past from the l-participle, with si in the clitic cluster after the auxiliary. The perfective drops to a clean sedl (the -nou- falls out).

Subject	sedat si	sednout si
masc. sg.	sedal jsem si	sedl jsem si
fem. sg.	sedala jsem si	sedla jsem si
masc. anim. pl.	sedali jsme si	sedli jsme si
fem. pl.	sedaly jsme si	sedly jsme si

Sedl jsem si do první řady, abych dobře viděl.

I sat down in the front row so I could see well (male speaker).

💡

Note the perfective past is sedl si — the -nou- of the infinitive drops out in the participle, exactly as in sednout → sedl, vstát → vstal. The colloquial sednul si is heard but the standard written form is sedl si.

The imperative: sedej si vs sedni si

This is where the pair is most useful in daily life. The perfective sedni si / sedněte si is the warm, everyday "have a seat / sit down" — what you say to a guest. The imperfective sedej si is rarer and carries the "go on, sit yourself down (already)" flavour of a repeated or prodding command.

Sedněte si, prosím, hned jsem u vás.

Please have a seat, I'll be right with you. (polite — perfective)

Sedni si a nech mě domluvit.

Sit down and let me finish (single command — perfective).

The split between perfective and imperfective imperatives runs through the whole language; see aspect in the imperative. For sit down, the perfective sedni si / sedněte si is your default.

The future

The imperfective sedat si takes the analytic budu-future — budu si sedat — used for a repeated habit. The perfective sednu si already carries future meaning for a single act.

Až dorazím, sednu si dozadu a budu spát.

When I arrive, I'll sit down in the back and sleep.

Common mistakes

❌ Sednu si u okna a piju kafe.

Type mismatch — drinking coffee while seated is a state, so the verb of being seated (sedět) is needed, not the dynamic sit-down.

✅ Sedím u okna a piju kafe.

I'm sitting by the window drinking coffee.

If you're describing being seated (a state), use sedět (sedím); sednu si is the single act of sitting down, not the ongoing scene.

❌ Prosím, seďte si.

Wrong verb — to invite someone to take a seat you use the dynamic sednout si, not the stative sedět.

✅ Prosím, sedněte si.

Please have a seat.

"Have a seat" is an invitation to sit down (the act) → sedněte si. Seďte would mean "stay seated / remain sitting," which is a different message.

❌ Sedni si na židli (locative form mistaken for the goal).

Reminder — sitting down is motion ONTO the seat, so na takes the accusative (na židli), not the locative.

✅ Sedni si na židli.

Sit down on the chair.

Sitting down is directional: na + accusative (na židli, the goal of the movement), not the locative you'd use for a static location.

❌ Včera jsem si sednul dozadu.

Colloquial — the standard written past drops the -nu-.

✅ Včera jsem si sedl dozadu.

Yesterday I sat down in the back (male speaker).

The standard written participle is sedl (the -nu- drops out); sednul is colloquial.

❌ Pořád sednu na to samé místo.

Aspect mismatch — a repeated habit ('always') needs the imperfective, and the reflexive si is missing.

✅ Pořád si sedám na to samé místo.

I always sit down in the same spot.

A habit ("pořád," always) forces the imperfective sedat si, and the reflexive si is obligatory.

Key takeaways

sednout si = perfective (one sit-down); sedat si = imperfective (repeated/habitual sitting down). Both take the dative reflexive si.
Don't confuse the dynamic sednout si / sedat si (sit DOWN, change of position) with the stative sedět (BE sitting, sedím, seděl).
Present: sedám si vs sednu si / sedneš si / sednou si (the -ne- class). Stative: sedím.
Government: na
- accusative for the goal (sednout si na židli); also k
  - dative, vedle
    - genitive.
Perfective past drops the -nu-: sedl si (standard), sednul si (colloquial). Everyday imperative: sedni si / sedněte si ("have a seat").

Now practice Czech

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Czech→