please
please — exclamation
1. a courtesy word added to a request, question, or instruction so that it sounds f
a courtesy word added to a request, question, or instruction so that it sounds friendly rather than demanding.
Could you pass me the salt and pepper, please, Marcus?
request + please near the end
Could you open the window in the kitchen, please?
could you ... please? polite question pattern
Two coffees, one orange juice and a chocolate muffin, please.
ordering pattern in cafés and shops
Please sit down, Mr. Adams, the doctor will be ready soon.
please + bare instruction (sentence-initial)
Children, quiet please, the film is about to start.
single word + please for short polite commands
- yes, please
- no, thank you
- please could you
- please don't
- kindly
more formal; usually placed before the verb (kindly sit down)
- if you would
polite tag added after a request, slightly formal
Grammar Patterns
[request], please
please [request]
could you ... please?
Usage Note
Position is flexible: sentence-initial sounds slightly more formal or insistent; sentence-final is the most neutral and most common in everyday speech. Avoid stacking 'please' with the request verb in the middle of a long clause — it sounds awkward.
Common Mistakes
2. the standard way to say yes when someone offers you something, showing both agre
the standard way to say yes when someone offers you something, showing both agreement and gratitude.
'Would you like some green tea?' 'Yes, please.'
minimal Yes, please reply to an offer
'Would you like a lift home, Carlos?' 'Oh, yes please!'
Oh, yes please! shows enthusiasm
'More cake, Mia?' 'Yes please, just a small slice.'
Yes please, [follow-up] adding detail
'Do you want sugar in your coffee, Lina?' 'Please.'
bare 'Please' as a brief acceptance
- yes, please
- oh yes please
- please, just a little
- please do
- yes, thanks
informal alternative; common in casual British and American speech
- I'd love to
fuller, warmer acceptance of an invitation
- no, thank you
the standard polite refusal of an offer
Grammar Patterns
Yes, please
Yes please, [noun]
Oh, yes please!
Usage Note
Almost always paired with 'yes' (or used as a one-word reply 'Please.'). The opposite reply is 'No, thank you' — never 'No, please'. Distinguish from sense 1: here 'please' is the whole answer, not a politeness tag on a request.
Common Mistakes
3. spoken sharply, on its own or before a comeback, to show that you find what some
spoken sharply, on its own or before a comeback, to show that you find what someone has just said silly, exaggerated, or hard to believe.
Oh, please! That excuse about the traffic is ridiculous.
Oh, please! + dismissive follow-up
Please. Marcus has never cooked a meal in his life.
stand-alone 'Please.' challenging a claim
'I worked for ten hours straight.' 'Oh please, you took two long breaks.'
dialogue: Oh please rejects the speaker's claim
Please, Lina, nobody at school believes that story about the dog.
Please + name + flat denial
- oh please
- please, spare me
- oh please, give it a rest
- come on
very similar dismissive tone; slightly more friendly
- give me a break
stronger and more frustrated
- as if
informal, often by younger speakers, expressing disbelief
Grammar Patterns
Oh, please!
Please! [contradicting statement]
Oh please, [dismissive remark]
Usage Note
Tone of voice and a falling intonation make this sense unmistakable; in writing it is usually flagged with 'Oh, ' or an exclamation mark. Distinguish from sense 4 (a desperate plea) — that one rises in pitch and asks for action; this one falls and rejects the previous remark.
Common Mistakes
4. said with strong feeling to beg someone to do (or not do) something, when you re
said with strong feeling to beg someone to do (or not do) something, when you really need their help or want them to stop.
Please! Someone call an ambulance, this man has fainted!
Please! + urgent imperative
Please, Dad, just listen to me for one minute.
Please, [name], + heartfelt request
Please don't tell Mum about the broken vase in the hallway.
Please don't + verb begging someone not to act
Please, Mr. Patel, I really need this job to support my family.
Please, + first-person plea
- please don't
- please, please
- please help me
- please, just
- I beg you
very emotional; more formal or theatrical
- for goodness' sake
informal; adds urgency or frustration
Grammar Patterns
Please! [urgent request]
Please, [name], [request]
Please don't [verb]
Usage Note
Repetition ('Please, please...') and emphatic stress are typical. Distinguish from sense 1: here 'please' is the emotional core of the appeal, not a politeness tag — removing it would make the speaker sound calm rather than desperate.
Common Mistakes
please — verb
1. to give someone a feeling of happiness, pride, or quiet satisfaction — usually b
to give someone a feeling of happiness, pride, or quiet satisfaction — usually because something matches what they hoped for.
The handmade scarf pleased Grandma so much that she wore it the next day.
[thing] pleased [person] + result clause
Lina works hard to please her demanding piano teacher.
work to please someone (try to satisfy them)
It pleases me to see the children reading after dinner.
It pleases [person] to + verb (formal-ish frame)
My new boss at the bookshop is impossible to please.
be hard/impossible to please (fixed pattern)
A simple thank-you note can please a customer more than a discount.
subject = thing; comparative + 'more than'
- please everyone
- easy/hard to please
- aim to please
- please the crowd
Grammar Patterns
[thing] pleases [person]
be pleased to [verb]
easy/hard to please
Usage Note
Often used in the passive participle 'pleased' as an adjective ('I'm pleased with the results'); the active verb is more common in writing than in casual speech. Subject is usually the source of satisfaction (a gift, news, performance), and the object is the person who feels it.
Common Mistakes
2. (of a person) to want, wish, or choose to do something — used after words like '
(of a person) to want, wish, or choose to do something — used after words like 'as', 'whatever', or 'whoever' to mean 'in any way you like'.
On her day off, Mia does exactly as she pleases.
do as [subject] please(s) — full freedom to choose
You can sit wherever you please in the lecture hall.
wherever + subject + please (free-choice pattern)
Invite whoever you please to the birthday party next Saturday.
whoever + you please as direct object of 'invite'
The teenagers stayed out as late as they pleased.
as ... as + subject + pleased (past form)
- as you please
- whenever you please
- whatever they please
- do as one pleases
Grammar Patterns
do as one pleases
whatever / whenever / however + subject + please(s)
as you please
Usage Note
Almost always intransitive and almost always with a free-choice word (whatever, whoever, wherever, however, as). Carries a slight tone of independence or even defiance — the speaker is highlighting the lack of restriction. Distinguish from sense 1: here the subject is the chooser, not the giver of pleasure.
Common Mistakes
3. in old-fashioned or courtroom language: to be acceptable to someone in authority
in old-fashioned or courtroom language: to be acceptable to someone in authority, used in fixed openings asking for their permission or attention.
May it please the court, the defence calls Dr. Tanaka.
May it please the court — courtroom opening
If it please your honour, I would like to present new evidence.
If it please [title] — formal request for permission
If it pleases you, my lord, the messenger has arrived.
If it pleases [title] — archaic / theatrical opener
The lawyer began, 'May it please the court,' and then read the motion aloud.
embedded fixed phrase 'May it please the court'
- may it please the court
- if it please your honour
- if it pleases you
- with your permission
modern formal equivalent in business or legal contexts
- by your leave
old-fashioned; mainly literary now
Grammar Patterns
if it please(s) you / the court
may it please [the court / your honour]
Usage Note
Survives mainly as a fixed legal opener ('May it please the court') and in historical or fantasy fiction. Note the bare subjunctive 'if it please' (no -s) is the older form still preferred in courtroom etiquette. Avoid in everyday speech — it sounds either formal or theatrical.
Common Mistakes
4. in the fixed phrase 'if you please': an old-fashioned, pointedly polite tag atta
in the fixed phrase 'if you please': an old-fashioned, pointedly polite tag attached to an order or request, or, with a sharper tone, used inside a story to flag something that surprised or annoyed the speaker.
If you please, sir, your table is ready.
If you please, sir — formal serving-staff opener
Step back from the rope, if you please.
[request], if you please — sentence-final formal tag
And then, if you please, the cat walked off with my sandwich!
if you please as ironic exclamation of disbelief
I'll have the soup first, if you please.
ordering pattern + if you please for emphatic politeness
- if you please
- and then, if you please
- kindly
modern formal alternative; placed before the verb
- would you mind
everyday polite request; less archaic
Grammar Patterns
If you please, [request]
[clause], if you please.
Usage Note
'If you please' is now mainly heard in two situations: from formal service staff (waiters, ushers, older shopkeepers), and as a slightly sarcastic 'can you believe it?' tag inside a story. Distinguish from sense 3: 'if you please' addresses the listener directly; sense 3's 'if it please you' uses dummy 'it'.
Common Mistakes
if you please
idioma formal politeness tag used either when making a request or, in storytelling, to draw attention to something surprising or annoying.
Two tickets for the matinée, if you please.
And then the parrot, if you please, started swearing at the vicar.
please yourself
idiomspoken to show that you don't mind what the other person decides — sometimes warmly, sometimes a little annoyed.
'I'm not coming to the party.' 'Please yourself.'
Order whatever you want, Marcus — please yourself.
used to say that no matter what you do, some people will still be unhappy with the result.
The new menu got mixed reviews, but you can't please everyone.
Mia learnt early as a teacher that you can't please everyone.
Word family
- pleasedadjectiveA2
- pleasingadjectiveB2
- pleasurenounA2
- pleasantadjectiveA2
- pleasantlyadverbB1
- displeaseverbC1
- displeasedadjectiveB2
- displeasurenounC1
- unpleasantadjectiveA2
Synonym discussion
Sense: verb/1
All four verbs describe making someone feel good, but they differ in intensity and source. 'Please' is the everyday choice and covers any quiet, agreeable feeling — a small gift, a tidy room, or a polite reply can all please someone. 'Delight' is much warmer and more visible: it suggests a smile, a laugh, or open joy ('the magic show delighted the children'). 'Satisfy' shifts the focus from feeling to expectation: you satisfy a customer, a hunger, or a requirement when the result is enough, even if it isn't joyful. 'Gratify' is the most formal and often touches pride or vanity ('the award gratified the old professor's ego'). So a grandmother is pleased by a card, delighted by a surprise visit, satisfied by a thoughtful gift, and gratified when her grandchildren quote her advice years later.
Common collocations
Nouns
- please the audience
- please the crowd
- please customers
- please the boss
Adverbs
- please greatly
- please immensely
- always aim to please
Phrases
- aim to please
- easy to please
- hard to please
- impossible to please
- do as one pleases
Prepositions
- please with [pleased + with]
- please by [pleased + by]
Etymology
From Old French 'plaisir' (to please, give pleasure), itself from Latin 'placere' meaning 'to be acceptable, to be agreeable'. English borrowed the verb in the 14th century, first in formal phrases like 'if it please you', where the subject was an impersonal 'it' and the person was the indirect object — a structure that survives in courtroom 'May it please the court'. Over time, the personal pattern ('the news pleased her') took over in everyday speech, and the bare politeness tag 'please' (short for older 'if you please') emerged in the 1700s.