S'asseoir (or s'assoir) is a peculiar verb in that it has two accepted conjugations in Le Présent. They are equally correct and mean exactly the same thing.
Here are both conjugations of S'ASSEOIR (to sit down) in Le Présent:
| 1st conjugation | 2nd conjugation | English |
| je m'assois | je m'assieds | I sit down / I'm sitting down |
| tu t'assois | tu t'assieds | you sit down / you're sitting down |
| il s'assoit | il s'assied | he/she/one sit down / he/she/one is sitting down |
| nous nous assoyons | nous nous asseyons | we sit down / we're sitting down |
| vous vous assoyez | vous vous asseyez | you sit down / you're sitting down |
| ils s'assoient | ils s'asseyent | they sit down / they're sitting down |
Note that these two conjugations have different pronunciations:
Je m'assieds avec toi. Je m'assois avec toi.
I sit down with you.
Tu t'assieds discrètement. Tu t'assois discrètement.
You're sitting down quietly.
Elle s'assied avec Paul. Elle s'assoit avec Paul.
She's sitting with Paul.
Nous nous asseyons ici tous les jours. Nous nous assoyons ici tous les jours.
We sit here every day.
Vous vous asseyez avec nous ? Vous vous assoyez avec nous ?
Are you sitting with us?
Ils s'asseyent sur le banc. Ils s'assoient sur le banc.
They're sitting down on the bench.
Remember that to conjugate a reflexive verb in Le Présent, you need to agree the reflexive pronom se (infinitive: se laver, se raser...) with each person, as follows:
je me / m'
tu te / t'
il, elle, on se / s' + verb conjugated in the right form
nous nous
vous vous
ils, elles se / s'
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Tu t'assieds discrètement. Tu t'assois discrètement.
You're sitting down quietly.
Nous nous asseyons ici tous les jours. Nous nous assoyons ici tous les jours.
We sit here every day.
Elle s'assied avec Paul. Elle s'assoit avec Paul.
She's sitting with Paul.
Vous vous asseyez avec nous ? Vous vous assoyez avec nous ?
Are you sitting with us?
Je m'assieds avec toi. Je m'assois avec toi.
I sit down with you.
Ils s'asseyent sur le banc. Ils s'assoient sur le banc.
They're sitting down on the bench.
Q&A
Ron
Kwiziq community member
1 December 2017
3 replies
Please explain the reason for 2 different conjugations with this verb
I have noticed this peculiarity with s'asseoir as well as a couple of other verbs in French; however, I have never read or found an explanation for the reason this exists like such.
Chris
Kwiziq community member
4/12/17
Go figure.
-- Chris.
-- Chris.
Ron
Kwiziq community member
4/12/17
Passez une bonne journée.
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
5/03/18
Hi both,
This is an interesting one! Indeed you will hear a mixture of both conjugations in spoken language but I think in the Imperative you might hear,
Assieds-toi, Asseyons-nous and Asseyez-vous
more than the other one.
Hope this helps!
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
14/10/16
Well, I would say it's a bit weird to mix them up, especially because one is considered slightly more elegant (assieds) than the other (assois).
It would be like mixing American and British spellings in the same essay: not a complete horror, but it would make your essay feel a bit inconsistent...
I hope that answers your question!
À bientôt !
jane
Kwiziq community member
15/10/16
jane
Kwiziq community member
15/10/16
Melody
Kwiziq community member
17/06/16
By comparison with s'asseoir and s'assoir, there's hardly any difference in conjugation of connaitre vs connaître (circomflex), so it doesn’t present a challenge.
This site gives some helpful information re: s'asseoir and s'assoir, but still doesn’t tell me which version is being conjugated.
http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/sassoir-sasseoir.3075579/
As a general question, does Kwiziq mostly stick to pre-1990 orthography? It never would have occurred to me to ask before now.
Any other insights would be welcome. btw, I as someone trying to learn French, I like the circomflex! Sometimes it indicates a “missing s” (in etymological terms), an “s” that persists in English.
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
20/06/16
In the case of "s'asseoir" vs "s'assoir", it only affects the spelling of the infinitive, probably to make it match the 1st conjugation "je m'assois"etc
As for the order of the conjugation, we reversed it thanks to your remark.
We've also had a look at the "connaître" lesson, to reflect the case you mentioned.
Merci et à bientôt !
Graham
Kwiziq community member
21 February 2018
1 reply
General question - How do you transfer a lesson from one notebook to another?
Chris
Kwiziq community member
22 February 2018
22/02/18
Hi Graham, I guess you would have to remove it from ont notebook and add it in the other one. I don't know of a more direct way.
-- Chris.