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Why French says 'elle est assise' for 'she is sitting'

In English, one -ing form covers two situations. "She is sitting" can describe someone who is already in the chair. With a little context it can also describe someone lowering herself into it. French keeps these two ideas strictly apart. The movement of getting into a position uses a reflexive verb such as s'asseoir (to sit down), se lever (to get up) or s'allonger (to lie down). The position itself, once you are in it, uses être with a state word: être assis, être debout, être allongé.

English speakers tend to reach for the verb that looks like "to sit" and say elle s'assoit when they mean that she is calmly sitting by the window. To a French ear, that sounds as if she keeps sitting down again and again. Once you see the split between movement and state, the right choice becomes easy.

Word list
être assisA2 to sit elle est assise = she is sitting être deboutA2 to stand elle est debout = she is standing s'asseoirA2 to sit down elle s'assoit = she sits down se coucherA2 to go to bed il se couche à 22 h = he goes to bed; il est couché = he is in bed se leverA2 to stand up elle se lève = she gets up se leverA2 to get up elle se lève à 7 h = she gets up (out of bed); elle est levée = she is up se mettre deboutA2 to stand up elle se met debout = she stands up être allongémB1 to lie elle est allongée = she is lying down être couchémB1 to lie elle est couchée = she is lying down (in bed) s'allongerB1 to lie down elle s'allonge = she lies down se coucherB1 to lie down elle se couche = she lies down / goes to bed être étendumB2 to lie elle est étendue = she is lying stretched out s'agenouillerB2 to kneel down elle s'agenouille = she kneels down se mettre à genouxB2 to kneel down elle se met à genoux = she kneels down
How it works

Ask yourself one question: is the person moving into a position, or already in it?

  • Movement: use the reflexive verb, as in je m'assois, il se lève, nous nous allongeons.
  • State: use être plus a word describing the position, as in je suis assis, il est debout, nous sommes allongés.

Most of these state words are past participles that work like adjectives: assis, allongé, couché, étendu, agenouillé. A few are not participles at all. Debout is an adverb, and à genoux is a prepositional phrase. They follow the same logic, though: être plus a description of where your body is.

Ma grand-mère est assise près de la fenêtre.
(My grandmother is sitting by the window.)
Elle s'assied sur la chaise.
(She sits down on the chair.)

Both s'assied and s'assoit are correct present-tense forms of s'asseoir. The everyday command is assieds-toi (sit down).

The words
Sitting

S'asseoir is the movement and être assis is the result. The participle agrees with the person: il est assis, elle est assise, ils sont assis, elles sont assises.

Les invités sont assis autour de la table.
(The guests are sitting around the table.)
Standing

To get up, French uses se lever or the more explicit se mettre debout. To be standing is être debout. Debout never changes its form: elles sont debout.

Les élèves se lèvent quand le professeur entre.
(The pupils stand up when the teacher comes in.)
Dans le bus, je suis toujours debout.
(On the bus, I'm always standing.)
Lying

S'allonger and se coucher both mean to lie down. Se coucher also means to go to bed. The matching states are être allongé, être couché (often in bed) and être étendu (stretched out, a little more descriptive).

Je suis fatigué, je vais m'allonger un peu.
(I'm tired, I'm going to lie down for a bit.)
Les enfants étaient allongés dans l'herbe.
(The children were lying in the grass.)
Il est dix heures et Paul est déjà couché.
(It's ten o'clock and Paul is already in bed.)
Le chat est étendu au soleil.
(The cat is lying stretched out in the sun.)
Kneeling

To kneel down is s'agenouiller or se mettre à genoux. To be kneeling is être agenouillé or, very commonly, être à genoux.

Il se met à genoux pour chercher sa clé sous le lit.
(He kneels down to look for his key under the bed.)
Watch out

The split is clearest in the past. The passé composé of the reflexive verb tells you what someone did. The imparfait of être with the state word describes the scene.

Elle s'est assise à côté de moi.
(She sat down next to me.)
Elle était assise à côté de moi.
(She was sitting next to me.)

Do not forget agreement. Assise, allongées and agenouillés follow the person they describe. Only debout and à genoux stay fixed.

Other positions work the same way: être accroupi (to be squatting) and être penché (to be leaning). Sleep is a little different, because the plain verb dormir already describes the state: il dort means he is sleeping, and il s'endort means he is falling asleep.

Summary

If the person is moving into a position, use the reflexive verb: elle s'assoit, il se lève, je m'allonge. If the person is already in that position, use être plus a state word: elle est assise, il est debout, je suis allongé. Whenever English says "is sitting", "is standing" or "is lying" about a still body, French almost always needs être.