Sentence 'I entered his office and found him ... at a table ... a book'

[nessie]

I entered his office and found him ___ at a table ___ a book

a. seating - read
b. seating - reading
c. seated - read
d. seated - reading

=> I choose d for this. I've already understood the use of "reading" here but I'm not very clear about "seated". Certainly we don't use "seat" or "seating" but could you please tell me more about the use of "find + O + gerund/participle" (I think this is also correct: "I entered his office and found him sitting at a table reading a book")

Many thanks in advance.
Nessie
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... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[lost_soul]

I would choose "B"

[nessie]

Hi Alex,

What do you think about this:

sit down = be seated (note that "seat" has no meaning of "sit")
Please sit down = please take a seat = please be seated.

Thus I think we can't say "I entered his office and found him seating at a table reading a book"
I just wonder whether we can say "I entered his office and found him be seated..." or not. This syntax is a bit strange to me.

[Alan]

Hi Nessie,

I would say: I found him sitting ... reading. I think 'seated' is too formal here and the balance is wrong - (a past participle and a gerund both dependent on 'found' doesn't work). It's used for example when there is a ceremony taking place and everybody is standing. The person in charge of the event would then say: Please be seated. This is a formal way of saying: Please sit down.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Cool Expressions

[lost_soul]

[nessie]

Hi Alan,
Thanks for your help . I also think the use "be seated" a bit too formal. However I'm still not very clear about the wrong balance here (sorry! )
Grammatically we can use "be seated" in stead of "sit", can't we? And so in this case if we still want to use "be seated", what should be changed to make a good balance?

[nessie]

Hi Alan,
Could you please tell me your idea?

Many thanks
Nessie.

[Yankee]

Hi Nessie

To be honest, I don't see anything wrong with the sentence "I entered his office and found him seated at a table reading a book".

Of course, it would also be possible to say "I went into his office and saw him sitting at a table reading a book", for example.
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Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[nessie]

Thanks a lot, Amy
By the way, have you any idea about the difference between "seated" and "sitting" here? (difference in meaning) - (level of formality)

[Yankee]

Hi Nessie

The word "seated" is a little more formal. On the other hand, it is also slightly more formal to say "entered the office" instead of "went into the office". It is also slightly more formal to say "found him" instead of "saw him". Therefore, I don't see any real conflict in the level of formality if you use the word "seated" in the original sentence.
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_________________
Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English