Introduction
Sentarse means «to sit down». Sentarse means to sit down: on a chair, at a table, on a bench. It is reflexive and an e → ie stem-changing verb, and learners often confuse siento (I sit down) with siento from sentir (I feel) — the forms are identical, only the context differs. It is a reflexive -ar verb, stem-changing (e → ie), so the tables below show you exactly how it behaves in every tense. On this page you will find the full conjugation of sentarse in all thirteen tenses, notes on when to use each one, example sentences, the mistakes learners make most often, a ten-question quiz and answers to the questions students ask about this verb. For example: «Yo me siento en la silla todos los días.» — I sit down on the chair every day.
Quick facts
| Infinitive | sentarse |
| English | to sit down |
| Verb type | Reflexive -ar verb, stem-changing (e → ie) |
| Gerund | sentando |
| Past participle | sentado |
| Auxiliary verb | haber |
Full conjugation tables
The tables below show the verb forms exactly as conjugated. Because sentarse is reflexive, add the pronoun before the form in real sentences: me, te, se, nos, os, se — for example, «Me siento».
Gerund: sentando · Past participle: sentado
Present Indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | siento |
| tú | sientas |
| él/ella/Ud. | sienta |
| nosotros/as | sentamos |
| vosotros/as | sentáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | sientan |
The present tense describes habits, facts and what is happening now. For sentarse, the yo form is siento, as in «Yo siento» in the examples below. This is one of the tenses where sentarse does not follow the regular -ar pattern, so learn the forms in the table above rather than guessing them from the infinitive. Use the present for routines («todos los días») and for general truths.
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | senté |
| tú | sentaste |
| él/ella/Ud. | sentó |
| nosotros/as | sentamos |
| vosotros/as | sentasteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | sentaron |
The preterite describes completed actions in the past — things that started and finished. «Ayer yo senté» is the classic use. Do not confuse it with the imperfect: the preterite moves the story forward, one finished event at a time.
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | sentaba |
| tú | sentabas |
| él/ella/Ud. | sentaba |
| nosotros/as | sentábamos |
| vosotros/as | sentabais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | sentaban |
The imperfect describes the past as background: habits, descriptions and actions in progress. «De pequeño, yo sentaba» shows the habitual use. It sets the scene while the preterite reports what happened inside it.
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | sentaré |
| tú | sentarás |
| él/ella/Ud. | sentará |
| nosotros/as | sentaremos |
| vosotros/as | sentaréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | sentarán |
The future tense states what will happen. For sentarse the future is built on the infinitive: «Mañana yo sentaré». It is also used for predictions and promises, and in spoken Spanish it often alternates with ir a + infinitive.
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | sentaría |
| tú | sentarías |
| él/ella/Ud. | sentaría |
| nosotros/as | sentaríamos |
| vosotros/as | sentaríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | sentarían |
The conditional expresses what would happen: wishes, polite requests and hypothetical results. «Si tuviera más tiempo, yo sentaría» is the typical pattern. It shares its stem with the future and changes only the endings.
Present Perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he sentado |
| tú | has sentado |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha sentado |
| nosotros/as | hemos sentado |
| vosotros/as | habéis sentado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han sentado |
The present perfect connects the past with the present: something that has happened, often today or recently. It is haber in the present plus the past participle: «Hoy yo he sentado». In Spain it is used for anything that happened today; in Latin America the preterite is often preferred.
Pluperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había sentado |
| tú | habías sentado |
| él/ella/Ud. | había sentado |
| nosotros/as | habíamos sentado |
| vosotros/as | habíais sentado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían sentado |
The pluperfect describes an event that happened before another past event: «Cuando llegué, ya había sentado». It is haber in the imperfect plus the past participle, and it is the tense for explaining what had already happened when something else took place.
Future Perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré sentado |
| tú | habrás sentado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá sentado |
| nosotros/as | habremos sentado |
| vosotros/as | habréis sentado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán sentado |
The future perfect looks back from a future point: by then, something will already have happened. «Para mañana, yo habré sentado» is the pattern — haber in the future plus the past participle. It is less common in speech but regular in formal writing.
Conditional Perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría sentado |
| tú | habrías sentado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría sentado |
| nosotros/as | habríamos sentado |
| vosotros/as | habríais sentado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían sentado |
The conditional perfect expresses what would have happened: «Yo habría sentado si hubiera podido». It is haber in the conditional plus the past participle, and it is the tense for regrets and missed chances.
Present Subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | siente |
| tú | sientes |
| él/ella/Ud. | siente |
| nosotros/as | sentemos |
| vosotros/as | sentéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | sienten |
The present subjunctive appears after wishes, doubts, emotions and impersonal expressions: «Espero que él siente». The trigger is in the main clause; the subjunctive is the mood of uncertainty, desire and influence. Learn the yo form first — most of the table follows from it. This is one of the tenses where sentarse does not follow the regular -ar pattern, so learn the forms in the table above rather than guessing them from the infinitive.
Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | sentara |
| tú | sentaras |
| él/ella/Ud. | sentara |
| nosotros/as | sentáramos |
| vosotros/as | sentarais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | sentaran |
The imperfect subjunctive is the past partner of the present subjunctive, used after past-tense triggers and in si-clauses: «Si él sentara, todo sería distinto». The table above shows the -ra forms, the ones you will hear most often. There is also a less common -se set built on the same stem.
Imperative — Affirmative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | sienta |
| él/ella/Ud. | siente |
| nosotros/as | sentemos |
| vosotros/as | sentad |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | sienten |
There is no yo form in the imperative — you cannot command yourself.
The affirmative imperative gives direct commands and instructions: «¡Sienta!». There is no yo form — you cannot command yourself. The tú form is the one you will use with friends and family, and the usted form with people you address formally. This is one of the tenses where sentarse does not follow the regular -ar pattern, so learn the forms in the table above rather than guessing them from the infinitive.
Imperative — Negative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | sientes |
| él/ella/Ud. | siente |
| nosotros/as | sentemos |
| vosotros/as | sentéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | sienten |
There is no yo form in the imperative — you cannot command yourself.
The negative imperative tells someone not to do something: «¡No sientes!». Unlike the affirmative imperative, the negative forms come from the present subjunctive, which is why they look different. Never use the affirmative form after no. This is one of the tenses where sentarse does not follow the regular -ar pattern, so learn the forms in the table above rather than guessing them from the infinitive.
Example sentences
- Yo me siento en la silla todos los días. — I sit down on the chair every day.
- Mi hermana se sienta en la silla mucho. — My sister sits down on the chair a lot.
- Ayer yo me senté en la silla por la tarde. — Yesterday I sat down on the chair in the afternoon.
- De pequeño, yo me sentaba en la silla muchas veces. — As a child, I used to sit down on the chair often.
- Mañana yo me sentaré en la silla sin falta. — Tomorrow I will sit down on the chair without fail.
- Si tuviera más tiempo, yo me sentaría en la silla ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would sit down on the chair right now.
- Hoy yo me he sentado a la mesa dos veces. — Today I have sat down at the table twice.
- Espero que él se siente en la silla pronto. — I hope he sits down on the chair soon.
- ¡No te sientes ahí! — Don't sit down there!
- Ahora mismo me estoy sentando. — Right now I am sitting down.
Common mistakes
1. Using the regular stem in the present
Wrong: sento
Right: siento
Sentarse does not keep its infinitive stem here. The correct form is siento; the regular-looking sento is a form learners invent by applying the standard endings to the wrong stem.
2. Dropping the reflexive pronoun
Wrong: Yo siento en la silla.
Right: Yo me siento en la silla.
Sentarse is reflexive: the pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) is part of the verb. Without it you are using the non-reflexive verb, which means something else entirely.
3. Confusing it with a similar verb
Wrong: *Siento en la silla.
Right: Me siento en la silla.
Siento on its own means I feel. To sit down you need the reflexive pronoun: me siento en la silla.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
Wrong: Espero que tú sientas en la silla.
Right: Espero que tú sientes en la silla.
After espero que, Spanish requires the subjunctive: sientes, not the indicative sientas. Wishes, hopes and doubts all trigger this change.
5. Using the affirmative imperative after no
Wrong: No sienta en la silla.
Right: No sientes en la silla.
Negative commands use the subjunctive-based forms: no sientes. The affirmative sienta can never follow no.
Quiz
Test yourself on the forms above. Choose the correct answer, then check the key below.
1. What is the yo form of sentarse in the present tense? (the reflexive pronoun goes before the verb form)
- (a) sentamos
- (b) sienta
- (c) sientas
- (d) siento
2. What is the él/ella form of sentarse in the preterite?
- (a) sentamos
- (b) sentaste
- (c) senté
- (d) sentó
3. What is the nosotros form of sentarse in the imperfect?
- (a) sentaba
- (b) sentabas
- (c) sentábamos
4. What is the tú form of sentarse in the future tense?
- (a) sentaremos
- (b) sentará
- (c) sentarás
- (d) sentaré
5. What is the ellos form of sentarse in the conditional?
- (a) sentaría
- (b) sentarían
- (c) sentarías
6. What is the yo form of sentarse in the present perfect? (the reflexive pronoun goes before the verb form)
- (a) ha sentado
- (b) has sentado
- (c) he sentado
- (d) hemos sentado
7. After «Espero que…», what is the tú form of sentarse?
- (a) sentemos
- (b) siente
- (c) sientes
8. What is the nosotros form of sentarse in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- (a) sentara
- (b) sentáramos
- (c) sentaras
9. What is the gerund of sentarse?
- (a) sentado
- (b) sentando
- (c) sentarse
- (d) siento
10. What is the past participle of sentarse?
- (a) sentado
- (b) sentando
- (c) sentarse
- (d) senté
Answer key
1. (d) siento — In the present, the yo form of sentarse is siento. The other options are the same tense but different persons.
2. (d) sentó — In the preterite, the el form of sentarse is sentó. The other options are the same tense but different persons.
3. (c) sentábamos — In the imperfect, the nosotros form of sentarse is sentábamos. The other options are the same tense but different persons.
4. (c) sentarás — In the future, the tu form of sentarse is sentarás. The other options are the same tense but different persons.
5. (b) sentarían — In the conditional, the ellos form of sentarse is sentarían. The other options are the same tense but different persons.
6. (c) he sentado — In the present perfect, the yo form of sentarse is he sentado. The other options are the same tense but different persons.
7. (c) sientes — In the present subjunctive, the tu form of sentarse is sientes. The other options are the same tense but different persons.
8. (b) sentáramos — In the imperfect subjunctive, the nosotros form of sentarse is sentáramos. The other options are the same tense but different persons.
9. (b) sentando — The gerund of sentarse is sentando. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy sentando».
10. (a) sentado — The past participle of sentarse is sentado. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he sentado».
Frequently asked questions
Is sentarse regular or irregular?
No — sentarse is a stem-changing verb (e → ie). The stem vowel changes in the present tense, the present subjunctive and the imperative, and the tenses affected are: present, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The nosotros and vosotros forms keep the original stem.
What are the gerund and past participle of sentarse?
The gerund is sentando and the past participle is sentado. Use the gerund with estar for actions in progress («Estoy sentando») and the participle with haber for the perfect tenses («he sentado»).
What is the difference between sentarse and sentir?
Sentarse and sentir are often confused. Sentir is to feel; sentarse is to sit down. The yo form siento is the same for both.
How do I say «I sit down» in Spanish?
Say «Yo me siento». That is the yo form of the present tense, the form you need for talking about yourself right now.
Why does sentarse end in -se?
The -se marks a reflexive verb: the action comes back to the subject. The pronoun changes with the person — me siento, te sientas, se sienta — and it always goes before the conjugated verb, or attached to an infinitive or gerund.
Related links
- Practise this verb in one tense: sentarse-present-tense
- More examples and a quiz: sentarse-examples-and-quiz
- Browse all Spanish verbs: /spanish/
- Full list of irregular verbs: spanish-irregular-verbs
- Related verb: levantarse
- Related verb: despertarse
- Related verb: acostarse
- Conjugate any verb: verb-conjugator
- Reflexive verb conjugator: reflexive-verb-conjugator