sitzen
German, verb
sitzen is spelled S-I-T-Z-E-N (6 letters) and appears 79 times per million words in written German, the 1,082nd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Sitzen is a German verb meaning “to sit; to perch” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Sitzen is a different word: “dative plural of Sitz”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “sich mit dem Gesäß auf etwas niedergelassen haben”.
What does sitzen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to sit; to perch
- 2
to stay (in one place); to remain; to be (in a particular place or state)
Wir saßen fest!
- 3
to fit
- 4
to be (e.g. with voller)
Der Schrank sitzt voller Motten.
- 5
colloquialto do time; to spend time in jail
im Gefängnis sitzen.
- 6
colloquialto hit home; to have a significant effect
- 7
Switzerlandto sit down
noun
- 1
masculinedative plural of Sitz
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. sich mit dem Gesäß auf etwas niedergelassen haben 2. sich ruhig an einem Ort aufhalten 3. sich längere Zeit an demselben Ort aufhalten 4. von Größe oder Schnitt angemessen sein
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of sitzen
- sitzt present singular third-person
- saß past
- gesessen participle past
- säße past subjunctive
- haben auxiliary
- sein auxiliary
- 5 strong
- haben or sein auxiliary
- sitzend participle present
- sitze first-person indicative present
- sitzest second-person singular subjunctive
- sitzet plural second-person subjunctive
- saßen first-person indicative plural
- säßen first-person formal plural
- saßest indicative preterite second-person
- saßt indicative preterite second-person
- säßest formal rare second-person
- säßt formal rare second-person
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to sitzen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is sitzen in German?
sitzen appears 79 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).