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Sitting, lying and standing are states in Portuguese

In English, you describe body positions with an -ing form: someone is sitting on a chair, a dog is lying on the rug, people are standing at a bus stop. Portuguese treats these positions as states. It uses estar plus a participle or a short phrase: estar sentado, estar deitado, estar de pé.

English speakers often translate word for word and say ela está sentando. That sentence exists, but it means something different: she is in the middle of sitting down, moving her body towards the chair. To say where someone simply is, you need the state form.

Word list
estar de péA2 to stand state: usual in Portugal estar em péA2 to stand state: common in Brazil estar sentadoA2 to sit state: agrees (está sentada = she's sitting) ficar de péA2 to stand up result: ficam de pé ficar em péA2 to stand up result: BR variant of ficar de pé levantarA2 to stand up action: informal BR without se (levanta! = get up!) levantar-seA2 to stand up action: todos se levantaram sentar-seA2 to sit down action: sentou-se = she sat down deitar-seB1 to lie down action: vou deitar-me = I'll lie down estar deitadomB1 to lie state: agrees (estão deitadas) ajoelhar-seB2 to kneel down action: state = estar ajoelhado
How it works

Think of a posture as the result of a movement. First you sit down, which is the action. Then you are seated, which is the state. Portuguese keeps these two apart, and English blurs them with one -ing form.

  • The action is a reflexive verb: sentar-se (to sit down), deitar-se (to lie down), levantar-se (to stand up).
  • The state is estar + participle: estar sentado, estar deitado. Standing is the exception: it uses a phrase with pé (foot), so you say estar de pé or estar em pé.

Because sentado and deitado work like adjectives, they agree with the person: sentado, sentada, sentados, sentadas.

Ela está sentada no sofá, e o gato está deitado no chão.
(She's sitting on the sofa, and the cat is lying on the floor.)

Rule of thumb: if the English -ing describes a position someone is already in, use estar + sentado, deitado or de pé.

The words
Sitting

Use estar sentado for the state and sentar-se for the movement of sitting down.

O meu avô está sentado na varanda.
(My grandfather is sitting on the balcony.)
Pode sentar-se aqui, se quiser.
(You can sit down here, if you like.)
Lying

The same pattern applies: estar deitado is the state and deitar-se is the action.

As crianças já estão deitadas.
(The children are already lying in bed.)
Estou cansado, vou deitar-me um bocadinho.
(I'm tired, I'm going to lie down for a bit.)
Standing

Both estar de pé and estar em pé mean to be standing. De pé is the usual form in Portugal, and Brazilians often prefer em pé. For the movement, use levantar-se, or ficar de pé / ficar em pé, which stress the result of getting up. In informal Brazilian speech, plain levantar without se is common.

Os alunos estão de pé à porta da sala.
(The students are standing at the classroom door.)
No ônibus, eu estava em pé porque não havia lugares.
(On the bus, I was standing because there were no seats.)
Todos se levantaram quando o professor entrou.
(Everyone stood up when the teacher came in.)
Quando o juiz entra, todos ficam de pé.
(When the judge comes in, everyone stands up.)
Levanta, já são oito horas!
(Get up, it's already eight o'clock!)
Kneeling

Ajoelhar-se is the movement of kneeling down. The state is estar ajoelhado. You may also meet estar encostado (to be leaning against something), which follows the same pattern.

Ele ajoelhou-se para apertar os sapatos.
(He knelt down to tie his shoes.)
Watch out

The gerund is not wrong, but it describes the movement in progress. Brazilians say está se sentando, and in Portugal you hear está a sentar-se. Both mean the person is lowering themselves onto the seat at this moment.

Espera, ela ainda está se sentando.
(Wait, she's still sitting down.)

When English says someone sat or stood somewhere for a while, it describes a lasting position, not a movement. Portuguese uses ficar + the state form here, not the reflexive verb.

Fiquei sentado duas horas à espera do médico.
(I sat there for two hours waiting for the doctor.)

Finally, remember agreement: a woman está deitada, and a group of friends estão sentados.

Summary

Keep movement and position apart. To get into a position, use a reflexive verb: sentar-se, deitar-se, levantar-se, ajoelhar-se. To be in a position, use estar sentado, estar deitado, or estar de pé / em pé. Whenever English says sitting, lying or standing about where someone already is, reach for estar, not the gerund.