🪑🙋

How to Say ‘You can sit down’ in French

Vous pouvez vous installer

voo poo-VAY voo an-stah-LAY

[voo poo-VAY voo an-stah-LAY]

💬 Usage Tip: S'installer literally means to settle in, and it's the usual way of saying "take a seat" in a café.

Phrase Breakdown

Vous pouvez

voo poo-VAY

You can

This is the formal or plural form of 'pouvoir'. The final 'z' of 'pouvez' is silent here, so say 'vou pou-vé'.

Example

Vous pouvez entrer.

You can come in.

Words in this phrase

Vous

[voo]

you

Used to refer to the person or people being addressed.

Example

Vous aimez le film?

Do you like the movie?

pouvez

[poo-VAY]

can / may

Indicates permission or possibility.

Example

Vous pouvez annuler jusqu’à l’heure limite.

You can cancel until the deadline.

vous installer

voo an-stah-LAY

settle in / take a seat

This is the reflexive verb 's'installer'. Make the liaison: 'vou-z-in-sta-lé'.

Example

Je vais m'installer près de la fenêtre.

I'm going to sit near the window.

Words in this phrase

vous

[voo]

yourself

Reflexive pronoun used with the verb "se sentir" meaning "to feel."

Example

Dans Vous vous sentiriez, vous fait partie du verbe pronominal.

In "Vous vous sentiriez," the second "vous" is part of the reflexive verb.

installer

[an-stah-LAY]

settle in

With 'vous', to sit down and make yourself comfortable.

Example

Installez-vous au salon.

Make yourselves comfortable in the living room.

Guides for French learners

Ordering in French: Cafés, Bakeries and Restaurants (with Menu Vocabulary)How to order in French at a café, a bakery and a restaurant: the phrases, the questions staff ask, and the menu and food vocabulary to understand the answers.Hello in French: Greetings, Good Evening and How to Answer "How Are You?"How to say hello in French, when to switch to good evening, how to ask how are you and what to answer, with tu vs vous and native audio.

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