Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

please

UK /pliːz/ · US /pliz/ verb, adverb, interjection

Forms pleases pleasing pleased pleas'd pleasest pleasedst pleaseth pleace plaise pls puh-lease

  1. verb (ambitransitive) To make happy or satisfy; to give pleasure to. “Her presentation pleased the executives.”
  2. verb (intransitive, ergative) To desire; to will; to be pleased by. “Just do as you please.”
  3. adverb Used to make a polite request. “Please, pass the bread.”
  4. interjection (often with yes) Used as an affirmative to an offer. “May I help you? —(Yes,) please.”
  5. interjection An expression of annoyance, impatience, or exasperation. “Oh, please, do we have to hear that again?”
  6. interjection (followed by with + noun or noun phrase) “Please with that damn harmonica!”
  7. interjection (Cincinnati) Said as a request to repeat information. “Customer while ordering: Can I get a [unintelligible]? Restaurant employee: Please?”

Synonyms

cheer hearten satisfy beatify enrapture begladden blissen bright fetch cheer up cherish content delight elate elevate enbliss exhilarate fain gay gladden

Antonyms

annoy disgust displease irritate aggravate nettle rankle ruffle sting burn someone's ass antagonize bother

Etymology

From Middle English plesen, plaisen, borrowed from Old French plaise, conjugated form of plaisir or plaire, from Latin placeō (“to please, to seem good”), from the Proto-Indo-European *pleHk- (“pleasingness, permission”). In this sense, displaced native Old English līcian, whence Modern English like.

Short for if you please, an intransitive, ergative form taken from if it please you which is a calque of French s'il vous plaît, which replaced pray. If it please you is a present subjunctive form, but most current uses of please are not parsed that way.

Semantic loan from German bitte (“please; excuse me”).

Webster’s 1913

  1. verb To give pleasure to; to excite agreeable sensations or emotions in; to make glad; to gratify; to content; to satisfy.
  2. verb To have or take pleasure in; hence, to choose; to wish; to desire; to will.
  3. verb To afford or impart pleasure; to excite agreeable emotions.
  4. verb To have pleasure; to be willing, as a matter of affording pleasure or showing favor; to vouchsafe; to consent.

Etymology [OE. plesen, OF. plaisir, fr. L. placere, akin to placare to reconcile. Cf. Complacent, Placable, Placid, Plea, Plead, Pleasure.]

Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “please”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “please” (best matches first).

All 35 Sanskrit matches →