Meaning & use
please
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Meanings
interjection
Used to make a request sound more polite, or to accept an offer courteously.
Grammar: Often placed at the end of a request, or before a verb to soften a command: Please sit down. It can also stand alone as an answer.
Patterns
- please + verb
- ..., please.
Could you pass the salt, please?
Please close the door when you leave.
"Would you like some tea?" "Yes, please."
verbtransitive
To make someone feel happy or satisfied.
Grammar: Takes an object: The gift pleased her. It is not used in the progressive.
Patterns
- please someone
- be pleased with something
The results pleased the whole team.
She is hard to please when it comes to food.
He was pleased with his new car.
Word forms
| third person singular | pleases |
|---|---|
| past tense | pleased |
| past participle | pleased |
| -ing form | pleasing |
Common combinations
- please note
- Please note that the office closes at 5 p.m.
- yes, please
- "Would you like a receipt?" "Yes, please."
- please yourself
- If you don't want to come, please yourself.
- hard to please
- He's hard to please; nothing is ever good enough.
Synonyms and how they differ
- kindly
- More formal and often used in written requests: Kindly refrain from smoking.
- delight
- Stronger than 'please' and suggests great joy rather than simple satisfaction.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: please or pleas?
please vs pleas
A plural noun meaning urgent requests or legal arguments; it sounds like 'please' but is a different word.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
'Please' is the correct interjection to make a request polite. 'Pleased' and 'pleasing' are adjectives, and 'pleasure' is a noun, so they do not fit here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “please”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.