to have a seat
- phrasal verb
- /hæv ə siːt/
- I said you can have a seat if you want.
So you walk in, have a seat, shake hands all the way.
- So you walk in, have a seat, shake hands all the way.
- Everyone and all, please have a seat, folks.
- Oh, hey Maya, thanks for stopping by, have a seat please.
- If you're one of my viewers who watches just for shits and giggles, grab a snack, have a seat, join us.
- Yeah, if she, let's suppose she's called into the administrator's office for the Central Library and they say we need to have a seat.
Examples
-
All right, why don't we all have a seat now?
-
Go on, have a seat.
-
Everyone and all, please have a seat, folks.
-
Hey, have a seat over there.
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Have a seat right here.
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Now pour yourself a cup of coffee and have a seat.
Fiction book (1994) -
Now, if you'd just have a seat over there in the waiting area...
Fiction book (1996) -
Please, have a seat.
-
"Sure, have a seat," said the receptionist as she handed a box of tissues to Jill.
Fiction book (1999) -
Please, have a seat and make yourself comfortable.
Synonyms
Help someone into a seat by showing or guiding them
To show someone to a seat or place them in one
To sit down, often said strongly to tell someone to calm down
To sit down, often on a church seat but also anywhere
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The invitation 'have a seat' is directly derivable from the constituents: 'have' (take/possess) plus 'seat' (a place to sit), which naturally yields the instruction to take a seat or sit down. This is a conventional polite formula but follows transparent compositional logic and has close parallels in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the words will readily understand it.
Etymology
Have a seat comes from the simple scene of a host offering a chair to a guest: the host says have a seat, meaning take the chair to rest. That's why today it is used as a polite way to invite someone 'to sit down'.