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Suppose you bump into a friend in a restaurant (or a food place in general) and you want to know weather he already has taken a seat.

Is it wrong to ask

Are you sitting anywhere?

Would it sound like I am asking if he is sitting on something when we are talking which looks absurd!

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No, it is not wrong to ask that question. "Are you sitting anywhere?" is a very common question. Alternatively, you can also use "Have you grabbed a seat yet?" If you are sure your friend has already claimed a seat, you could ask "Where are you sitting?"

Given the context of the situation (your friend is not currently sitting), "sitting" is understood to be a state of "being seated" or possessing a seat.

As a side note, a variation of the response "Does it look like I'm sitting?" is used as a joke specifically because the question could also mean "Are you currently sitting down anywhere?" The joke is a deliberate misunderstanding of the question by ignoring the context.


Edit: Upon further thought, "Are you sitting anywhere?" could also be referring to the future, as in "Are you [going to be] sitting anywhere?"

This form is used in similar sentence constructs, for example:

"I'm going out for my run."

"Are you [going to be] running around the block?"

For the purpose of the question, this doesn't change the answer. I just wanted to note it for the sake of completeness.

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    Actually, that response made me ask this question :D
    – Cardinal
    Apr 28, 2019 at 2:43
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    @Cardinal - Ah! Interesting. I can assure you, though, such a response would have been said only by someone who was pretending to be confused by your statement.
    – J.R.
    Apr 29, 2019 at 14:12
  • @J.R. Yeah, he's my friend and I asked him before to correct me when I am talking wrong English, probably he was busting my balls, he said literally "I am standing on my feet :D"
    – Cardinal
    Apr 29, 2019 at 16:28

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