“The child was sat at the table.”
Usage Entry 558 / 1011 60-second read
Sat vs. Seated
Informal simple past versus formal participle.
The comparisoni
“The child was seated at the table.”
The ruleii
¶
BE SAT is informal. BE SEATED is standard.
In formal writing, use BE SEATED. BE SAT (as in "he was sat on the floor") is common in speech but jars in edited prose.
Memory aidiii
Remember it like this
Formal = seated."