asseoir

Senses

1. 1.

   to sit (down)

   to cause someone to sit or to position oneself on a seat

2. 2.

   to base; to establish

   to found or ground something on a principle, foundation, or idea

Examples

• "Assieds-toi sur cette chaise."

  Sit down on this chair.

• "Son autorité s'assoit sur le respect et la confiance."

  His authority is based on respect and trust.

• "Nous nous sommes assis au café pour discuter."

  We sat down at the café to talk.

Usage

Asseoir is an irregular verb; the stem changes in conjugation (assied-, assoy-). Use the reflexive form s'asseoir (to sit down) more commonly in everyday speech than the transitive form. Common in formal writing for the figurative sense 'to establish/base'.