The preterite of sentarse is used to express when someone sat down at a specific moment in the past. For example, “We sat down at the table to eat” – “Nos sentamos a la mesa para comer.”

This is a regular -ar reflexive verb in the preterite tense. Remember to include the appropriate reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) before the conjugated verb form.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Sentarse (to sit down) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

The Preterite of sentarse expresses the completed action of sitting down.

To sit down: Describes the specific moment of taking a seat, for example Me senté en la primera fila (I sat down in the first row), or Se sentaron a la mesa (They sat down at the table).

To take a seat: Refers to positioning oneself in a chair or similar, for example Nos sentamos para la reunión (We sat down for the meeting).

Examples

Examples of Sentarse in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Me senté en la primera fila del teatro. (I sat in the first row of the theater.)

¿Dónde te sentaste durante la conferencia? (Where did you sit during the conference?)

Juan se sentó junto a la ventana. (Juan sat next to the window.)

Nos sentamos a discutir el problema. (We sat down to discuss the problem.)

Los estudiantes se sentaron en círculo. (The students sat in a circle.)

Te sentaste sin saludar a nadie. (You sat down without greeting anyone.)

María se sentó a estudiar toda la tarde. (María sat down to study all afternoon.)

Nos sentamos a cenar a las ocho. (We sat down for dinner at eight.)

Se sentaron en la terraza a tomar café. (They sat on the terrace to have coffee.)

Me senté a esperar mi turno. (I sat down to wait for my turn.)

¿Por qué te sentaste tan lejos? (Why did you sit so far away?)

El jurado se sentó a deliberar. (The jury sat down to deliberate.)

Nos sentamos en el parque a descansar. (We sat in the park to rest.)

Se sentaron a ver la puesta del sol. (They sat down to watch the sunset.)

Me senté frente al ordenador toda la mañana. (I sat in front of the computer all morning.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Sentarse (to sit down) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Castilian Spanish. For Latin American Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Preterite tense is also known as the Simple Past, Past Simple, Definite Past, Absolute Past, or Past Tense Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Perfecto Simple, Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Simple, Pasado Simple, or Pretérito de Indicativo in Spanish.