S'ASSEOIR v S'ASSOIR

Question

Demain soir, je ________ à côté de Mathieu. Tomorrow night, I will sit next to Mathieu.(HINT: Conjugate s'asseoir (to sit) in the future tense (Futur Simple))
There is something odd about this question and about the claimed correct answer. You pose the question using the 'old' form of the verb (s'asseoir) but accept as correct ONLY a response in the 'modern' form (s'assoir). Now I don't have a problem with mixing and matching the 'old' and 'new' forms of the verb, but I think we should be consistent. A question based on the 'old' form of the verb should surely accept as correct a response using the same 'old' form of the verb.

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Tim,
I took a look at the test question and both spellings of the verbs (both new and old versions) are accepted for this question. I took a look at your test history and I can see what happened. I am transferring your query directly to the Helpdesk to answer in more details.
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Answer

Tim, I think you may be confusing having 2 different accepted conjugations that apply to the verb asseoir/s'asseoir, which are not dependent on whether the infinitive is spelled as 'asseoir/'s'asseoir' or 'assoir/s'assoir', with now also having 2 different forms of spelling asseoir/s'asseoir (traditional or old) or assoir/s'assoir (rectified or new).

The spelling reforms affected the infinitive; the two accepted but different conjugations remain the same. The conjugations give rise to quite different forms, and they are indeed used in mixed fashion in current French speech. Have a look at the links for clarification :

Conjugate reflexive verb s'asseoir in the present tense in French (Le Présent)

https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/conjuguer/A9A2823

https://www.thoughtco.com/asseoir-to-seat-to-sit-set-down-1369835

Answer

Do native speakers habitually use only one of the forms? And is which form one uses a regional thing?