まず掛けるにはいくつか意味があるのはご存知ですか？ 洋服を掛ける（hang a cloth on something) 椅子に掛ける/腰掛ける　(sit on a chair) したがって掛ける（腰掛ける）はhung yourself (your back) onto the chair という意味からきています。 つまり、床などに座る場合は、掛けるとは言えずに「座る」と言いいます。　 掛ける（腰掛ける）を使う場合は、椅子やソファなどに”座る”場合に使われます。 しかし椅子やソファに掛ける（腰掛ける）際も、「座る」と使われる事は稀にありますが、 一般的に椅子やソファに座る場合は、「掛ける」を使った方がformalな感じがします。 まとめると、 座る＝　◎床に座る（しゃがむ）、○椅子やソファに座る 掛ける、腰掛ける＝　◎椅子やソファに掛ける（腰か掛ける）　

thank you everyone

座る is more common word used in any situations you sit down. In formal situations, such as job interview or business talk, 掛ける is often used with honorific language（敬語）. "Please have a seat."「どうぞお掛けください。」 As mentioned by everyone, 掛ける is not used when you sit down on the floor or tatami. So, offering a seat in Japanese style room would be "Please have a seat." 「どうぞお座りください。」or "Please take a seat on this cushion."「どうぞ（座布団を）お使いください。」

掛ける　is what you do to a chair. Technically, it means you apply your ass to a chair 掛ける　 = apply 座る　　is a state verb meaning "sit"

Good question. They both have the meaning "to sit", but 掛ける / 腰掛ける can only be used to express sitting down on things like chairs, sofas, benches, etc. - basically any kind of surface elevated above the ground/floor. 座る is more general, and can be used to express sitting directly on the ground/floor (in addition to the things listed above). Note: Originally 座る was used exclusively for sitting on the ground/floor and nothing else, but in modern Japanese, it's becoming more common to see 座る used for seats and chairs, etc. as well. An example of this would be 「電車の椅子に座る」 and 「電車の椅子に腰掛ける」, both which are perfectly fine to say, and mean the same thing: "to take a seat on a train"