I was sat with my girlfriend

[Inversuz]

I have come across this sentence (the context is: they went to the cinema for a movie, youtube video):

"I was sat with my girlfriend ..."

Is that such a colloquial grammar (I have read that it is becoming the 'standard' version in BrE), or is it just the passive in this case (he was sat on the place by a staff member of the cinema)?

Is this the proper sentence in the context above?
"I was seated with my girlfriend."

 

[The Newt]

Certainly in the US we would say "sitting" or "seated." Note that "me" in that context is also not standard English.

 

[Inversuz]

Note that "me" in that context is also not standard English.

Thank you, it was a typo and I have corrected it.

 

[Ikwik64]

"I was sat with my girlfriend" is perfectly common in informal British English. I have no objection to it but I think a better educated speaker would say "I was sitting with my girlfriend".

 

[abluter]

Ikwik is right in saying that it is common in informal English, but it is not, I think, about to take over. It is essentially a Northern British locution, and remains much more common in that part of the country.

 

[Ikwik64]

It is essentially a Northern British locution, and remains much more common in that part of the country.

You're right. I live in Yorkshire, which has a few grammatical features all of its own. "Was sat" is evidently of them.

 

[mr cat]

This is a very interesting thread on the topic.
Sitting vs sat

 

[london calling]

Ikwik is right in saying that it is common in informal English, but it is not, I think, about to take over. It is essentially a Northern British locution, and remains much more common in that part of the country.

Agreed, but it has migrated south over the last few years. I never use it and it irritates me when I hear it...

This has been discussed in previous threads, by the way.

Here's one:

Sat and sitting, stood and standing

 

[DonnyB]

I hear it a lot, and use it. I've even on occasion been known to say "I was sat sitting ...".

I wouldn't recommend it for use in a test or exam except perhaps a piece of dialogue, but there's nothing wrong with it otherwise in BE.

 

[lorelord]

I come from the deep south of England - Kent and have no problem with it. However it doesnt seem a complete sentence to me and therefore the choice of "Was Sat", "Sitting" or just "Sat" may depend on what follows.

 

[kentix]

As Newt says, it's not a feature of any American English.

 

[london calling]

I've even on occasion been known to say "I was sat sitting ...".

Me too, but only when imitating Hylda Baker. I believe 'stood standing' was one of hers too.

That said, say what you will, I could never use it.

 

[Robby Zhu]

Added to this thread. Nat, Moderator

She wasn't in the mood to spend six hours sat with someone who didn't understand the concept of personal space.
She sat next to the annoying guy on the plane. Then they fell in love

Hello, everyone. Is the word "sat" used correctly? I think it should be either "sitting" or "seated".

 

[owlman5]

I think it should be either "sitting" or "seated".

I agree. Sitting sounds somewhat more likely to me.

 

[JulianStuart]

There are regional variations and the links in this thread can get you started
I was sat, we were sat (sat or seated?)

 

[kentix]

It's a British thing. You won't find it in the U.S.

 

[TGW]

She wasn't in the mood to spend six hours being sat with someone who didn't understand the concept of personal space.

It gives me a sense that she was being forced to sit there with someone she didn’t like, doesn’t it?

 

[nightowl666]

I think it is grammatical, but not as frequently used as "sitting".
Please look at the sample sentences below from English publications:

1. Ted Boorman could spend hours sat on the patio watching the marvelous farm he had created.

Francesco Buscemi， From Body Fuel to Universal Poison，2017， p 93

2. I would spend hours sat in the shop's back kitchen, drawing pictures, left to amuse ourselves.

Andy Woodward, Position of Trust, 2019

3. Ellie would spend hours sat against her prison window desperately trying to hold on to some sort of sanity.

Stephen J. Holloway, Ellie, 2018, p 177

4. He spent hours sat up in the fields, back against the wall in more ways than one.

Irene Gough， An Autobiography of a Nobody， 2012， p 322

 

[kentix]

It's not grammatical/idiomatic in U.S. English. "Sitting" is the only form we use there.

 

[ewie]

It gives me a sense that she was being forced to sit there with someone she didn’t like, doesn’t it?

You've misquoted Robby Zhu by adding that being. Your edited version doesn't really make any sense.

 

[london calling]

It's a British thing. You won't find it in the U.S.

Not all Brits say it. It makes my toes curl...

 

[kentix]

That's what I meant. You won't find any examples here, but you will find some there.

 

[Aguas Claras]

When I was a child (in the north of England), it was common in spoken English but considered incorrect in written English. However, I've noticed over recent years that newspapers and so on use it fairly frequently, so it seems to have become accepted. Same goes for "stood" instead of standing (e.g "he was stood at the bus stop"). Don't like it at all but there you go.

 

[Andygc]

You won't find any examples here, but you will find some there.

By "there" I assume you mean in BE. Odd, isn't it? We are often told that AE preserves forms that have gone from BE (eg gotten), but it seems not this one.

1609 W. Shakespeare Louers Complaint in Sonnets sig. K2v Hee againe desires her, being satte.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 122. ¶6 The Court was sat before Sir Roger came.

Examples from the OED

 

[sdgraham]

I've noticed over recent years that newspapers and so on use it fairly frequently, so it seems to have become accepted.

I've never see such a thing in newspapers on this side of the Pond.

 

[nightowl666]

When I was a child (in the north of England), it was common in spoken English but considered incorrect in written English. However, I've noticed over recent years that newspapers and so on use it fairly frequently, so it seems to have become accepted. Same goes for "stood" instead of standing (e.g "he was stood at the bus stop"). Don't like it at all but there you go.

Yes，a parallel phenomenon for the usage of "stood", according to Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage, 4th Ed. 2015.
Fowler's dictionary indicates that "sat" is the same as "seated".
Regarding the use of "sat", the Dictionary also says: "For many people from a large part of the North and part of the West of England, it continues to be the normal formulation, and they might well be offended to hear it described as ‘dialect’. What has changed is that, as the OEC data suggests, its use has spread well beyond its traditional regional confines; though still a predominantly British construction, it is also found in other varieties, including AmE, Australian, NZ, and Irish English. Unsurprisingly, it appears above all in texts classified by the OEC as not being formal or technical, especially in blogs, news, and sports writing. Many of the British newspaper examples are from Northern papers, often directly quoting what people said. However, even a paper as starchy as the Telegraph occasionally slips it in."

 

[kentix]

I'd like to see an AE example. I have never heard one.

 

[nightowl666]

I'd like to see an AE example. I have never heard one

I have checked online that it seems that the authors using "sat" are all Brits.