asseoir

French

Alternative forms

• assoir (post-1990 spelling)

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French asseoir, from Old French asseoir, from Vulgar Latin *assedeō, reformed from Latin assidēre, on the basis of sedeō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.swaʁ/

• audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -waʁ

Verb

asseoir

1. (transitive) to sit down; to get seated

   Assieds les enfants sur des chaises !

   Sit the children down on chairs!

2. to assert

   asseoir sa domination

   to assert one's dominance

3. (reflexive) to sit down; to sit up; to take a seat

Conjugation

The verb asseoir (and its derivative rasseoir) has 2 distinct conjugations.

Conjugation of asseoir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	asseoir
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	assoyant or asseyant /a.swa.jɑ̃/ or /a.sɛ.jɑ̃/ or /a.se.jɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		assis /a.si/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	assois or assieds /a.swa/ or /a.sje/	assois or assieds /a.swa/ or /a.sje/	assoit or assied /a.swa/ or /a.sje/	assoyons or asseyons /a.swa.jɔ̃/ or /a.sɛ.jɔ̃/ or /a.se.jɔ̃/	assoyez or asseyez /a.swa.je/ or /a.sɛ.je/ or /a.se.je/	assoient or asseyent /a.swa/ or /a.sɛj/
	imperfect	assoyais or asseyais /a.swa.jɛ/ or /a.sɛ.jɛ/ or /a.se.jɛ/	assoyais or asseyais /a.swa.jɛ/ or /a.sɛ.jɛ/ or /a.se.jɛ/	assoyait or asseyait /a.swa.jɛ/ or /a.sɛ.jɛ/ or /a.se.jɛ/	assoyions or asseyions /a.swaj.jɔ̃/ or /a.sɛj.jɔ̃/	assoyiez or asseyiez /a.swaj.je/ or /a.sɛj.je/	assoyaient or asseyaient /a.swa.jɛ/ or /a.sɛ.jɛ/ or /a.se.jɛ/
	past historic2	assis /a.si/	assis /a.si/	assit /a.si/	assîmes /a.sim/	assîtes /a.sit/	assirent /a.siʁ/
	future	assoirai or assiérai /a.swa.ʁe/ or /a.sje.ʁe/	assoiras or assiéras /a.swa.ʁa/ or /a.sje.ʁa/	assoira or assiéra /a.swa.ʁa/ or /a.sje.ʁa/	assoirons or assiérons /a.swa.ʁɔ̃/ or /a.sje.ʁɔ̃/	assoirez or assiérez /a.swa.ʁe/ or /a.sje.ʁe/	assoiront or assiéront /a.swa.ʁɔ̃/ or /a.sje.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	assoirais or assiérais /a.swa.ʁɛ/ or /a.sje.ʁɛ/	assoirais or assiérais /a.swa.ʁɛ/ or /a.sje.ʁɛ/	assoirait or assiérait /a.swa.ʁɛ/ or /a.sje.ʁɛ/	assoirions or assiérions /a.swa.ʁjɔ̃/ or /a.sje.ʁjɔ̃/	assoiriez or assiériez /a.swa.ʁje/ or /a.sje.ʁje/	assoiraient or assiéraient /a.swa.ʁɛ/ or /a.sje.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	assoie or asseye /a.swa/ or /a.sɛj/	assoies or asseyes /a.swa/ or /a.sɛj/	assoie or asseye /a.swa/ or /a.sɛj/	assoyions or asseyions /a.swaj.jɔ̃/ or /a.sɛj.jɔ̃/	assoyiez or asseyiez /a.swaj.je/ or /a.sɛj.je/	assoient or asseyent /a.swa/ or /a.sɛj/
	imperfect2	assisse /a.sis/	assisses /a.sis/	assît /a.si/	assissions /a.si.sjɔ̃/	assissiez /a.si.sje/	assissent /a.sis/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	assois or assieds /a.swa/ or /a.sje/	—	assoyons or asseyons /a.swa.jɔ̃/ or /a.sɛ.jɔ̃/ or /a.se.jɔ̃/	assoyez or asseyez /a.swa.je/ or /a.sɛ.je/ or /a.se.je/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Related terms

• assis
• seoir

Descendants

• Saint Dominican Creole French: sitta
  • Haitian Creole: chita
• Louisiana Creole: assite

Further reading

• “asseoir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• essorai, oserais

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French asseoir.

Verb

asseoir

1. (sometimes reflexive, s'asseoir/se asseoir) to sit down (take a seat)
   • 1532, François Rabelais, Pantagruel:

     Lors qu'il feust deschainé, l'on le fist asseoir

     When he was unchained, they made him sit down

2. (transitive) to sit (make someone sit down)
3. (transitive) to place (an object)

Descendants

• French: asseoir

Old French

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *assedēre, reformed from Latin assidēre, present active infinitive of assideō, on the basis of sedeō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /asəˈoi̯ɾ/

Verb

asseoir

1. (sometimes reflexive, s'asseoir) to sit down (take a seat)
2. to sit (make someone sit down)

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stem assié distinct from the unstressed stem asse, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of asseoir (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		asseoir			avoir assis
gerund		en asseant			Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle
present participle		asseant
past participle		assis
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	assié	assiez	assiet	asseons	asseez	assiéent
	imperfect	asseoie, asseeie	asseoies, asseeies	asseoit, asseeit	asseïiens, asseïens	asseïiez, asseïez	asseoient, asseeient
	preterite	assis	asseṣis	assist	asseṣimes	asseṣistes	assisdrent
	future	asserrai	asserras	asserra	asserrons	asserroiz, asserreiz, asserrez	asserront
	conditional	asserroie, asserreie	asserroies, asserreies	asserroit, asserreit	asserriiens, asserriens	asserriiez, asserriez	asserroient, asserreient
compound tenses	present perfect	Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	past anterior	Use the preterite tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	future perfect	Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	conditional perfect	Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	assiée, assië	assiées, assiës	assiée, assië	asseons, asseiiens, asseions	asseez, asseiiez	assiéent, assiënt
	imperfect	asseṣisse	asseṣisses	asseṣist	asseṣissons, asseṣissiens	asseṣissoiz, asseṣissez, asseṣissiez	asseṣissent
compound tenses	past	Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	assié	—	asseons	asseez	—

Descendants

• Middle French: asseoir
  • French: asseoir