sitta (to sit, be located) | Swedish Grammar

sitta means "to sit" — but for a Swede it does a great deal more than describe a person on a chair. As one of the three posture verbs, sitta is also how Swedish says an object is located when that object is set into or fixed in something: a key sits in a lock, a button sits on a shirt, a picture sits on the wall. Its principal parts are sitta – satt – suttit, a strong verb, and its transitive twin is sätta ("to set, place"). Two more things make it worth a careful card: the construction sitta och + verb (which marks an ongoing action, where English would use "be ...-ing"), and a genuine spelling trap — satt is both the preterite of sitta and the supine of sätta.

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present	Preteritum (past)	Supine	Imperative	Group
sitta	sitter	satt	suttit	sitt	Group 4 (strong)

The present is sitter, the past satt (short vowel, double t), and the supine suttit (har suttit, "have sat / have been sitting"). The imperative is the bare stem sitt! An agreeing participle sutten exists but is rare and archaic in standard Swedish, so you will almost always meet the supine suttit, not a participle.

Vi sitter alltid längst bak på bussen.

We always sit at the very back of the bus. sitter — present.

Hon satt och väntade i en hel timme.

She sat waiting for a whole hour. satt — past (and note the sitta och + verb pattern).

Jag har suttit på samma stol hela dagen.

I've sat in the same chair all day. har suttit — perfect, supine suttit.

Use 1: present, past and perfect

The three tenses follow the principal parts directly. The present sitter covers both "sit" and "am sitting." The past is satt; the perfect har suttit, and the pluperfect hade suttit.

Han sitter alltid och pillar på telefonen vid middagen.

He always sits fiddling with his phone at dinner. Present sitter.

Vi satt uppe halva natten och pratade.

We sat up half the night talking. satt — simple past.

Har du verkligen suttit i möten sedan klockan åtta?

Have you really been in meetings since eight o'clock? har suttit — perfect.

Use 2: sitta for location — things that are 'set' or 'fitted'

This is the posture-verb use. Swedish almost never says an object simply är ("is") somewhere; it picks a verb describing the object's orientation. sitta is the verb for things that are fixed in, attached to, or set into a position — a key wedged in a lock, a screw in the wall, a button on a coat, a picture hanging in place. Where English just says "is," Swedish says it "sits."

Nyckeln sitter i låset — du kan bara vrida om.

The key is in the lock — you can just turn it. A key set into the lock 'sits' — sitter, not är.

En knapp sitter löst på din skjorta.

A button is loose on your shirt. A button fixed to cloth 'sits'.

Tavlan sitter snett — kan du rätta till den?

The picture is crooked — can you straighten it? Something fixed to the wall 'sits'.

💡

Choose the posture verb by how the object is held: sitta for things set into or fixed to something (keys, buttons, screws, pictures), ligga for flat things lying down, stå for upright things standing. Saying nyckeln är i låset is understandable but sounds foreign — a native says sitter.

Use 3: sitta och + verb — marking an ongoing action

Swedish has no separate progressive ("-ing") tense. To say someone is in the middle of doing something, it often pairs a posture verb with och + a second verb: sitta och läsa ("sit and read" = "be reading, sitting down"). The posture verb says how the person is positioned while doing it; the whole phrase signals a durative, ongoing action. This is one of the most natural patterns in spoken Swedish.

Mamma sitter och läser tidningen i köket.

Mum is reading the paper in the kitchen. sitter och läser — ongoing action, seated.

Vad gör du? — Jag sitter bara och tänker.

What are you doing? — I'm just sitting here thinking. sitter och tänker — the durative 'be ...-ing'.

Vi satt och skrattade åt gamla bilder hela kvällen.

We sat laughing at old photos all evening. satt och skrattade — past durative.

Use 4: the transitive twin sätta and the satt trap

sitta is intransitive — something is seated or fitted. To put something into that position you need its causative twin sätta ("set, place"): sätta – satte – satt. Here is the trap to commit to memory: the form satt is shared. It is the preterite of sitta ("sat / was sitting") and the supine of sätta ("(has) put"). The auxiliary tells them apart — Jag satt = "I sat," but Jag har satt = "I have put."

Jag satt på bänken medan hon satte väskan i bagageluckan.

I sat on the bench while she put the bag in the boot. satt = preterite of sitta; satte = preterite of sätta.

Vem har satt mjölken i frysen?

Who has put the milk in the freezer? har satt = supine of sätta — same spelling as sitta's preterite, but har marks it as placement.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jag sittade på tåget i fyra timmar.

Incorrect — sitta is strong and takes no -ade ending. The past is satt.

✅ Jag satt på tåget i fyra timmar.

I sat on the train for four hours.

❌ Vi har satt här i en timme. (meaning 'we've been sitting here')

Wrong supine — that's sätta's supine ('have put'). For 'have sat' you need sitta's supine, suttit.

✅ Vi har suttit här i en timme.

We've been sitting here for an hour.

❌ Nyckeln är i låset.

Understandable but unnatural — a key set into the lock 'sits': sitter.

✅ Nyckeln sitter i låset.

The key is in the lock.

❌ Jag sitter knappen på skjortan. (for 'I'm putting the button on')

Incorrect — sitta is intransitive (the button is fitted). To attach it you need the causative twin sätta.

✅ Jag sätter knappen på skjortan.

I'm putting the button on the shirt.

❌ Han läser i soffan just nu. (trying to stress the ongoing action while seated)

Not wrong, but flat — to convey the ongoing, seated action a native often says sitter och läser.

✅ Han sitter och läser i soffan just nu.

He's (sitting) reading on the sofa right now.

💡

sitta – satt – suttit: the posture verb for things set into place (nyckeln sitter i låset) and for people seated. Pair it with och + verb for the ongoing "be ...-ing" (sitter och läser). Its transitive twin is sätta — and remember that satt is both sitta's preterite and sätta's supine; the har decides which.

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