“I was sat” 😤

[FeeFiFoFummy]

Why do people no longer say “i was sitting”?

They are both correct - "sat" is the simple past of the verb "to sit", while "sitting" is continuous. Technically therefore:

"I sit" (present - one single action being done now)
Becomes
"I sat" (past - one single action you did in the past)

"I am sitting" (present - but continuous - you are doing it continuously for some time)
"I was sitting" (past - but continuous - you are doing it continuously for some time)

If you are talking about the action of sitting down, it should be sat for one action.
"I was skipping, but I sat down for Mum to put my shoes on, so we could go outside"
If you are talking about a continuous action it should be sitting.
"I was sitting down while we had tea."

Yes but the problem is that people mangle the two of them together to produce I was sat, which is not correct.

Hate it with a passion.

Because they're typing and miss the Caps arrow?

I don’t think that it’s regional. I’ve lived in various places in the north and the south, and you find people everywhere who speak like this. It’s the same sort of people who don’t understand the difference between ‘was’ and ‘were’. Most children learn grammar rules implicitly, so I assume that it’s a result of not having educated parents, or maybe not having books or being read to as a child.

I know it's wrong but it sounds perfectly correct and normal to me, in fact I like it.

’I sat down on a chair’ is not the same as ‘I was sat down on a chair.’ The first is grammatically correct. The second, isn’t.

I think I quoted the wrong poster there. I was replying to @stitchguru

It's not really heard in Ireland, Canada, or the US so it is regional in the sense that's heard in the UK - mostly in England.

Unfortunately I have heard it starting to creep in to Ireland. Presumably from British TV?

Oh God, never!

I haven't heard it much but I've heard it a couple of times on the radio, which was pretty poor.

Don't know why it posted twice. Edited.

I often say 'I was sat' because sitting sounds more present. Like you should still be doing it. Might be a Westcountry thing or from growing up in a time when teaching grammar wasn't seen as necessary.

Sitting is current unless it's preceded by was, in which case it becomes the past continuous.

I'd use 'I was sitting' or 'I sat'. I live in an affluent part of the SE, and I'd say using 'I was sat' was only used by a certain class demographic, certainly not the norm, or in everyday usage. This may not be the case in all areas of the UK, language tends to evolve regionally.

Those things are even on tv adverts now -

one for a mobile 'phone company - the bride can't get into her own reception because it's "invites" only.

I absolutely hate this. I don’t remember this being used when I was growing up (in the 80s) but hear it all the time now. Baffling.

Not as much as I hate seeing “should/ would of” written down but I do still hate it.

Do You mean in here or in general?

if you mean on here it's because MN some how f'd it up & unlike *everywhere else it no longer happens automatically & especially after my stroke it's too difficult to go back & capitalise it.

I agree.

Also loathe the way "I was sat" is commonly used.

Me too!

No, but you could.make it passive, i.e. "He was [forcibly] sat down in the chair by the teacher".

How odd. Would you also say, ‘I was spoke to my DH’ instead of, ‘I was speaking to my DH’?

Or ‘I was cleaned the windows’ instead of, ‘I was cleaning the windows’?

To me, ‘I was sat’ sounds the same as this. It sounds really odd. I also grew up in a time when grammar wasn’t taught at school!

Exactly.

you say “I was sitting” or “I sat”

so you say “I was mowing the lawn” or “I mowed the lawn”

not “I was mowed the lawn”… you don’t need two past tenses

I agree either way you. But on MN it is everywhere. Along with “me and DH were going…”

it is rife and really grates.