Skip to content

座る

su-wa-ru

What it means to sit in the boss's chair

The picture The body lowers and settles into one spot, and stays put there. 座る lowers the body onto one spot; 立つ sends that same body up into a vertical line.

Core verbs

Where the picture shows up in 座る

  1. Settling onto a seat

    こちらにお座りください。

    kochira ni o-suwari kudasai

    Please have a seat over here.

    A standing body folds its knees and lowers itself onto the chair.

  2. Settling onto the floor

    床に座って食べます。

    yuka ni suwatte tabe-masu

    We sit on the floor to eat.

    With no chair, the body goes all the way down and plants itself on the floor.

  3. Staying settled for hours

    一日中座って仕事をしています。

    ichinichi-jū suwatte shigoto o shite imasu

    I sit at work all day long.

    From morning until sundown, the seat you sat down on never leaves you.

  4. Taking the spot

    あの人が社長のいすに座りました。

    ano hito ga shachō no isu ni suwari-mashita

    That person took the president's chair.

    Someone lowers into the empty president's chair and fills that spot.

    The picture of sitting in a chair is used directly for taking a position.

  5. Sitting steady, unwobbling

    赤ちゃんが一人で座れるようになりました。

    akachan ga hitori de suwareru yō ni nari-mashita

    The baby can sit up by herself now.

    A baby's wobbling back straightens and she sits without tipping.

All of it in one picture

座る is one picture: the body comes down and settles on one spot. Down onto a chair and you are seated; all the way down and you are on the floor; never leaving the spot till sundown and you have sat all day; down into the empty president's chair and you have taken the post; steady with no wobble and the baby can sit. So 座る is not only the coming down — it always carries staying put in the spot you came down onto.

Next

See all Japanese core images