Breakdown of Nehmen Sie bitte Platz!
Sie
you (formal)
bitte
please
Platz nehmen
to take a seat, to sit down (polite)
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Questions & Answers about Nehmen Sie bitte Platz!
Since the lesson is about verbs like setzen, why does this sentence use nehmen?
While you can definitely say Setzen Sie sich, bitte! (Please sit down!), Nehmen Sie bitte Platz! is a very common, fixed phrase meaning "Take a seat!". It sounds a bit more polite and welcoming than just telling someone to sit.
Why is the verb Nehmen at the very beginning of the sentence?
This is a formal command (the imperative). When you ask someone to do something using the formal Sie, you swap the normal word order and put the verb first. So, Sie nehmen (You take) becomes Nehmen Sie (Take!).
Does Platz literally mean "seat"?
It can mean "seat," but der Platz also means "place," "space," or "room" (as in "is there room for me?"). So literally, you are inviting the person to "take a place."
In English we say "take a seat". Why isn't there an einen before Platz?
Platz nehmen is a set phrase in German that doesn't use an article. Even though Platz is the direct object (in the accusative case), you simply say "take seat" rather than "take a seat."