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I'm not sure what a normal way to say this is, like if someone comes into your office. Would it be veuille t'asseoir ? What other ways are there ?

I mean it in the sense of offering someone a seat. If there is any connotation of requesting they sit, that's important to know.

Like in English, please sit could be taken slightly different ways depending on your tone and relationship with the other person, whereas please be seated is very unambiguous and generally used in professional contexts like a flight attendant speaking to passengers.

Edit: Apparently veuille t'asseoir is not said; veuille is never used. I am not surprised, as I have never once heard it used before, but I was sort of testing the waters. So I have to say veuillez vous asseoir even in situations that call for tu ?

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  • As a note, you can't say "Veuille t'asseoir". I just checked and indead, it is the correct conjugaison of "vouloir" on "impératif", but it is never ever used. You can only say "Veuillez vous asseoir". I can't find why, but it could be an intersting question... :)
    – Random
    Nov 20, 2015 at 17:47
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    Editing this one. Indeed* by the way. Indead sounds rather sinister, il sonne comme la mort.
    – temporary_user_name
    Nov 20, 2015 at 17:49
  • No, you won't say "veuillez vous asseoir" when you want to use "tu". You only have to change the sentence. Actually, "Veuillez" is formal, so you have to find an other sentence to express the same formality. I'm writing an answer
    – Random
    Nov 20, 2015 at 17:52
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    Well hurry, I've had this person standing in my office for like an hour because I haven't known how to ask them to sit.
    – temporary_user_name
    Nov 20, 2015 at 18:02
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    Here’s another slightly related question concerning one way they say “Please take a seat” in Québec: "Tire-toi une bûche." (possibly more appropriate for using at home with friends than at work, but due to its 'quaintness,' I don't think anyone would take it as an order to "Sit!" [although people who are unfamiliar with the expression, yet familiar with some slang meanings of "wood/log" might not react by sitting!]).
    – Papa Poule
    Nov 24, 2015 at 14:13

2 Answers 2

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Common ways to offer a chair to someone entering your desk are :

Je vous en prie / Je t'en prie (while pointing the chair with your hand)

is quite formal, just as "Veuillez" would be.

Je vous en prie, asseyez-vous / Je t'en prie, assied-toi

It is quite the same as the first suggestion, but with no ambiguity on what you are talking about.

Asseyez-vous / Assieds-toi

Here, you want the person to sit, the tone defines if it is an order or a suggestion.

Vous pouvez vous asseoir / Tu peux t'asseoir

Here, the person was waiting for a chair, it is use in a classroom for example, when the teacher is coming in. Where the person didn't have the right to sit, and you are giving him the right.

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I will add additional info to Random's reply.

  • To a friend, (most) family members

Assieds-toi (s'il te plait)

  • Same in plural. Also work with unknown people but in this case, you should really say "s'il vous plait", otherwise it will sound aggressive.

Asseyez-vous (s'il vous plait)

  • To an unknown person older than you (or your age if you want to be respectful)

    As far as I know, it can be misunderstood by people in Switzerland where they will just understand that they can sit but they won't do it. They just understand the possibility "they can". However all people from France will understand that you are asking them to sit.

    Contrary to the first sentences, the following ways have a possibility of people refusing to sit (because they prefer to stand or whatever the reason can be).

Vous pouvez vous asseoir

  • To an unknown person younger than you (or your age if you want to sound friendly)

Tu peux t'asseoir

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