English grammar

Question

l was sat next to her

Philip · Accepted Answer

I sat next to her

OR

I was seated next to her

BillJ · Answer

PhilipI sat next to her

OR

I was seated next to her

Sorry Philip, but I disagree. Here's why:

The original sentence as submitted is set in the passive voice, but we don't know if it's correct or not because we don't know the context it's set in.

It's perfectly correct, provided it's intended to mean that he/she was shown to their seat by someone, i.e. cast in the passive voice with (as is usually the case) the by-agent phrase omitted:

"I was sat next to her [by the usher, steward or whomever]" - passive voice, simple past tense.

That sort of construction might typically occur in a context where someone says, "the usher sat Fred on his own, but I was seated next to her."

BUT it's incorrect if it was intended to inform us of his/her seating position in the past. Correctly, that would be:

"I sat next to her" - active voice, simple past tense. (You could also say, "I was sitting next to her").

The key to all this is the verb 'to sit'. It can be intransitive (passive not possible) or transitive (passive possible).

The verb 'to seat', by the way, is transitive only and therefore 'was seated' could replace 'was sat' in my first example (i.e. to be seated by someone).

(So, Anon, give us the context and we'll tell you if your sentence is correct).

BillJ

Khoff · Answer

Sorry, BillJ, but I disagree with you and agree with Philip. The usher does not "sit" people who have then been "sat." The usher "seats" people who have then been "seated."

Edited to add:
After posting this I checked "sit" in a dictionary, and, somewhat to my surprise, it does list a transitive version of it, which it defines as "to cause to sit; to seat. Often used reflexively: Sit yourself over there.") I think this usage (apart from the relflexive version) is so rarely used that most literate people who heard it would simply consider it wrong, as Philip did and as I did.

Mr Wordy · Answer

khoffI think this usage (apart from the relflexive version) is so rarely used that most literate people who heard it would simply consider it wrong, as Philip did and as I did.

I think the problem is that "I was sat..." is so common as a substandard or dialect version of "I was sitting..." that it's hard to see past that.

Philip · Answer

Hi, BillJ -

I don't have any real argument to contradict what you have said here, but I think the explanation is beyond the scope of the poster's question (and I mean no disrespect to the original poster). Thanks for your input!

English grammar

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