🙏🪑

How to Say ‘Please have a seat.’ in French

Installez-vous, s'il vous plaît.

an-sta-LAY voo seel eel voo pleh

[an-sta-LAY voo seel eel voo pleh]

💬 Usage Tip: Installez-vous is literally "settle yourself", so it can mean sit in the waiting room or make yourself comfortable. The informal version is Installe-toi.

Phrase Breakdown

Installez-vous,

an-sta-LAY voo

Make yourself comfortable / Have a seat,

Say 'an-sta-lay-voo'. 'In' is a nasal sound, and the 'z' is silent.

Example

Installez-vous ici.

Have a seat here.

Words in this phrase

Installez

[an-sta-LAY]

settle / sit down

Imperative of 's'installer', to make oneself comfortable.

Example

Installez-vous à cette table.

Have a seat at this table.

-vous

[voo]

yourself

Reflexive pronoun attached to the verb in the command 'sit down'.

Example

Dans « Asseyez-vous. », « -vous » fait partie du verbe pronominal.

In “Sit down.”, “-vous” is part of the reflexive verb.

s'il vous plaît.

seel eel voo pleh

please.

Say 'seel voo play'. This is the polite form of 'please'.

Example

Un café, s'il vous plaît.

A coffee, please.

Words in this phrase

[seel]

Part of the fixed polite expression s'il vous plaît, literally if it pleases you.

Example

S'il vous plaît, confirmez la réservation.

Please confirm the reservation.

[eel]

In il y a, il does not refer to a person; it is part of the expression meaning “there is/there are.”

Example

Est-ce qu'il y a un parking sur place ?

Is there parking on site?

vous

[voo]

you

Used to refer to the person or people being addressed.

Example

Vous aimez le film?

Do you like the movie?

plaît

[pleh]

pleases

From plaire, to please; part of the expression meaning please.

Example

S'il vous plaît, cela me plaît beaucoup.

Please, I like that very much.

Guides for French learners

The Most Common French Verbs: the 20 You'll Actually UseThe 20 most common French verbs, with the present-tense forms you need, real example sentences with native audio, and two shortcuts for past and future.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.

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