Logo

Whats the rule that makes "please" pronounced the same as "pleas"?

13.06.2025 13:06

Whats the rule that makes "please" pronounced the same as "pleas"?

Words are pronounced the way that they're pronounced.

While you may reasonably ask why words are spelled the way they're spelled, it makes no sense to ask why they're pronounced the way they're pronounced.

Please is an anglicization of the French word plaisir.

Why is the French way to say please is "S'il te plaît" and not "Pour Favour" like Spanish and Portuguese "Per Favor" and Italian "Per Favore" in the Romance languages group?

Pleas is spelled <pleas> because it's the plural of pleas.

Whence the <ea> I cannot say but some other words that were spelled <ai> in French are spelled <ea> in English: aise → ease, graisse → grease, fait → feat.

You'll usually find your answer there.

How would you define love?

There's no rule.

If you're curious about why a word is spelled the way it's spelled, your first recourse should be etymonline dot com.

Back in the day (circa 1300), it was written <plesen>.

If there was only one man remaining on the Earth, would this be regarded as extinction?

What's (not “whats”) the rule?