喜樂美語

You can picture 'please' as the act of giving someone a small pleasure — making them feel happy or satisfied. The verb 'to please someone' is the bare engine; the famous polite word 'please' is just this engine folded into a request: literally 'do this, may it please you', a short way of saying 'if it pleases you to'. So every use circles back to one move: putting the other person's pleasure at the centre.

可以把 please 想成「給對方一點愉快」——讓人覺得開心、滿意。動詞 please（取悅某人）是最原始的核心；而我們天天掛在嘴邊那個禮貌的 please，其實就是把這個核心摺進請求裡：本來是「請做這件事，但願這讓你也樂意」的縮寫。所以無論是禮貌的「請」還是「隨你高興」，骨子裡都繞著「把對方的愉快放在中心」這個動作打轉。

From the word’s history

From Old French 'plaisir' / Latin 'placere' = 'to be pleasing, to satisfy'. The polite interjection 'please' is a shortening of 'if you please' / 'may it please you', so the request word literally grows out of the verb 'to give pleasure'.

源自古法文 plaisir、拉丁文 placere，意思是「使人愉快、使滿意」。禮貌用的 please 是 if you please（如果這讓你樂意）的縮寫，所以那個「請」字其實是從動詞「使人愉快」長出來的。

Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com), 'please'

登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。

同家族的字

過去式 pleased過去分詞 pleased-ing pleasing三單 pleases

意思相近

satisfyas you likekindlyoh come onexcuse medelightat willif you wouldyeah rightteachermake happywhatever you want+11

意思相反

disappointno thank youdispleaseno thanksupsetfrustrate

原始詞典資料7 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

pleaseverb詞源 1/pliːz/

  • 1

    To make happy or satisfy; to give pleasure to.

    • Her presentation pleased the executives.
    • I'm pleased to see you've been behaving yourself.
  • 2

    To desire; to will; to be pleased by.

    • Just do as you please.
    • He doesn't think, he just says whatever he pleases.

pleaseadv詞源 2/pliːz/

  • 1

    Used to make a polite request.

    • Please, pass the bread.
    • Would you please sign this form?

pleaseintj詞源 2/pliːz/

  • 1

    Used as an affirmative to an offer.

    • Near-synonym: thank you
    • May I help you? —(Yes,) please.
  • 2

    An expression of annoyance, impatience, or exasperation.

    • Oh, please, do we have to hear that again?
    • So it's safe to let a 10-year-old use a gun? Please.
  • 3

    An expression of annoyance, impatience, or exasperation.

    • Near-synonyms: enough, enough already, that's enough, no more, cut it out, knock it off, shut up, STFU
    • Please with that damn harmonica!

pleaseintj詞源 3/pliːz/

  • 1

    Said as a request to repeat information.

    • Customer while ordering: Can I get a [unintelligible]? Restaurant employee: Please?
    • Fellow: May I have a few days off to get married? Reply, in the Cincinnati idiom by a boss who had heard the sound but not the sense: Boss: Please?

摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。