please

exclamation

/pliːz/

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used as a polite way of asking for something or telling somebody to do something
- Please sit down.
- Two coffees, please.
- Quiet please!
- Please could I leave early today?
Express Yourself Asking for something
Asking for somethingWhether you are in shops or restaurants or in somebody's home, you can use polite questions to get what you want:
- Could I have a glass of water, please?
- Do you have any decaffeinated coffee?
- I'd like tea with sugar, please.
- I'll have the pasta with salad, please.
Responses:
- Certainly.
- I'm sorry, we don't have any left.
- Yes, of course. Here you are/go.
used to add force to a request or statement
- Please don't leave me here alone.
- Please, please don't forget.
- Please, I don't understand what I have to do.
used as a polite way of accepting something
- ‘Would you like some help?’ ‘Yes, please.’
- ‘Coffee?’ ‘Please.’
Please!
(informal, often humorous) used to ask somebody to stop behaving badly
- Children, please! I'm trying to work.
- John! Please!
Please/P-lease

/pəˈliːz/

/pəˈliːz/
used when you are replying to somebody who has said something that you think is stupid
- Oh, please! You cannot be serious.

Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French plaisir ‘to please’, from Latin placere.

verb

/pliːz/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they please	/pliːz/ /pliːz/
he / she / it pleases	/ˈpliːzɪz/ /ˈpliːzɪz/
past simple pleased	/pliːzd/ /pliːzd/
past participle pleased	/pliːzd/ /pliːzd/
-ing form pleasing	/ˈpliːzɪŋ/ /ˈpliːzɪŋ/

Idioms

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[transitive, intransitive] to make somebody happy
- please somebody You can't please everybody.
- Children are usually easy to please.
- He's a difficult man to please.
- I was pleased by the results.
- There's just no pleasing some people (= some people are impossible to please).
- I did it to please my parents.
- You must be pleased by their confidence in you.
- it pleases somebody to do something It pleased him to see the children playing with their gifts.
- She's always very eager to please.
- This film is sure to please horror fans.
- These guys aim to please and they never fail.
opposite displease
Extra Examples
- Some children are very difficult to please.
- The planning policy failed to please anyone.
- The result pleased us enormously.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adverb
- enormously
verb + please
- be difficult to
- be hard to
- be impossible to
- …
phrases
- there’s no pleasing somebody
See full entry
[intransitive] often used after as or what, where, etc. to mean ‘to want’, ‘to choose’ or ‘to like’ to do something
- You may stay as long as you please.
- She always does exactly as she pleases.
- I'm free now to live wherever I please.
Topics Preferences and decisionsc1

Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French plaisir ‘to please’, from Latin placere.

Idioms

if you please

(old-fashioned, formal) used when politely asking somebody to do something
- Take a seat, if you please.
(especially British English, old-fashioned) used to say that you are annoyed or surprised at somebody’s actions
- And now, if you please, he wants me to rewrite the whole thing!

please the eye

please God

used to say that you very much hope or wish that something will happen or not happen
- Please God, don't let him be dead.

please yourself

(informal) used to tell somebody that you are annoyed with them and do not care what they do
- ‘I don't think I'll bother finishing this.’ ‘Please yourself.’

please yourself | do as you please

to be able to do whatever you like
- There were no children to cook for, so we could just please ourselves.