🙏🪑

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

Bitte setzen Sie sich.

BIT-eh ZET-sen zee zikh

[BIT-eh ZET-sen zee zikh]

💬 Usage Tip: German says "sit yourself": sich setzen. With du it becomes setz dich.

Phrase Breakdown

Bitte

[BIT-eh]

please

Polite word for requests.

Example

Einen Moment, bitte.

One moment, please.

setzen Sie sich.

ZET-sen zee zikh

sit down / take a seat

This is the formal command 'sich setzen' (to sit down). The 's' in 'setzen' and 'Sie' sounds like an English 'z'.

Example

Setzen Sie sich bitte hierhin.

Please sit here.

Words in this phrase

setzen

[ZET-sen]

sit (down), set

Used reflexively with 'hin' to mean to sit down.

Example

Setzen Sie sich bitte.

Please sit down.

Sie

[zee]

you

The formal 'you' used in polite professional conversations.

Example

Ich freue mich, Sie hier auf der Jobmesse zu sehen.

I am pleased to see you here at the job fair.

sich

[zikh]

yourself

Reflexive pronoun; with formal 'Sie' it means 'yourself'.

Example

Stellen Sie sich bitte kurz vor.

Please introduce yourself briefly.

Guides for German learners

Duolingo vs Pimsleur: Tapping on a Screen or Talking Out Loud?Duolingo vs Pimsleur: five minutes of tapping versus thirty minutes of speaking. What each is good at, what each costs, and which to pick for your goal.

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