sitte (to sit / be seated) | Norwegian Grammar

sitte ("to sit / be seated") is the intransitive half of the sette/sitte pair. It describes the state of being seated — and, more broadly, of something resting snugly in a position — and it powers one of Norwegian's most important everyday constructions: sitte og + verb ("sit doing"), a pseudo-progressive that lets the language say "I'm sitting reading" where English just says "I'm reading." Learning sitte well means mastering its strong conjugation (which overlaps confusingly with sette) and getting comfortable with this sitte og pattern that native speakers lean on constantly.

Conjugation

Class: strong, intransitive. Auxiliary: ha.

Tense / mood	Norwegian	English
Infinitiv	å sitte	to sit / be seated
Presens	sitter	sit(s), am/is/are sitting
Preteritum	satt	sat
Perfektum	har sittet	have/has sat
Pluskvamperfektum	hadde sittet	had sat
Futurum	skal/vil sitte	will sit
Imperativ	sitt!	sit (still)!
Presens partisipp	sittende	sitting (adjective)

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Watch the collision with sette. sitte's preterite is satt (double t, no e) — and that exact form is also the supine of sette ("has set"). Meanwhile sette's preterite is satte (with a final e). So: satt = "sat" (preterite of sitte) or "set" (supine of sette); satte = "set/put" (preterite of sette). And sitte's own supine is sittet (double t). Since sitte takes no object, the no-object reading of satt is almost always "sat."

sitte has no object — that's the whole point

sitte is intransitive: nobody is being placed. Someone (or something) is simply seated, or wedged in position, by themselves. This is what separates it from its causative partner sette:

sitte (intransitive, no object): Jeg sitter her — "I'm sitting here." No object; I just am seated.
sette (transitive, takes an object): Jeg setter deg her — "I'm putting you here." Someone acts; an object/person is placed.

The test mirrors the legge/ligge one: if no thing is being placed and someone is simply seated, use sitte. Beyond literal seating, sitte also describes things that fit tightly: a key in a lock, a screw in wood, a dress on a body (kjolen sitter godt — "the dress fits well"). The common thread is "held snugly in position."

Jeg sitter på kontoret og venter på at møtet skal begynne.

I'm sitting in the office waiting for the meeting to start.

Hun satt og leste da jeg kom hjem.

She was reading when I got home.

Har du sittet her lenge? Beklager at jeg er sen.

Have you been sitting here long? Sorry I'm late.

sitte og + verb — the "sit doing" construction

This is the high-value pattern on the page. To express an ongoing action, Norwegian very often pairs a posture verb with og plus another verb: sitte og lese ("sit and read" = "be reading"), stå og vente ("stand and wait"), ligge og sove ("lie sleeping"). It functions like an English progressive but carries the extra information of what posture the person is in.

The critical orthographic trap: the linking word is og ("and"), not å ("to"). They sound nearly identical in speech, but here it must be og — sitte og lese, never sitte å lese. Both verbs are finite and parallel ("sits and reads"); there is no infinitive, so å would be wrong. This is one of the most common spelling errors even native speakers make.

Vi satt og snakket helt til klokka tre om natta.

We sat talking until three in the morning.

Han sitter bare og venter på at noen skal gjøre jobben for ham.

He's just sitting around waiting for someone to do the job for him.

Jeg satt og tenkte på det du sa i går.

I was sitting thinking about what you said yesterday.

Idioms with sitte

sitte fast — to be stuck, jammed. Nøkkelen sitter fast i låsen.
sitte igjen (med) — to be left (with); also to be kept behind / held back at school.
sitte inne med — to possess (knowledge, information). Hun sitter inne med svaret.
sitte i — to hold a position / sit on (a board, a committee).
det sitter langt inne — it's hard to bring oneself to do it.

Glidelåsen sitter fast — kan du hjelpe meg?

The zipper's stuck — can you help me?

Etter at alt var betalt, satt vi igjen med nesten ingenting.

After everything was paid, we were left with almost nothing.

Hun sitter inne med mye kunnskap om gamle hus.

She has a lot of knowledge about old houses.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jeg setter på stolen og leser.

Incorrect — for being seated use sitte; sette is transitive (place something)

✅ Jeg sitter på stolen og leser.

I'm sitting on the chair reading.

❌ Vi satt å prate hele kvelden.

Incorrect — the linking word is og ('and'), not å ('to'): satt og prate

✅ Vi satt og pratet hele kvelden.

We sat chatting the whole evening.

❌ Jeg har satt her i to timer.

Incorrect — satt is the preterite; after har use the supine sittet

✅ Jeg har sittet her i to timer.

I've been sitting here for two hours.

❌ Hun sittet stille og hørte etter.

Incorrect — sitte is strong; the preterite is satt, not sittet

✅ Hun satt stille og hørte etter.

She sat still and listened.

Key Takeaways

sitte / sitter / satt / har sittet / sitt! — strong and intransitive; preterite satt, supine sittet (double t).
sitte is intransitive — no object. Its causative partner is sette (you place an object).
Form clash: satt is sitte's preterite ("sat") and also sette's supine ("has set") — transitivity tells them apart.
sitte og + verb = "be doing (while seated)"; the linker is og, never å.
Idioms: sitte fast (be stuck), sitte igjen med (be left with), sitte inne med (possess knowledge).

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