Whats the rule that makes "please" pronounced the same as "pleas"?
Last Updated: 02.07.2025 00:45
What's (not “whats”) the rule?
Please is an anglicization of the French word plaisir.
You'll usually find your answer there.
Words are pronounced the way that they're pronounced.
There's no rule.
While you may reasonably ask why words are spelled the way they're spelled, it makes no sense to ask why they're pronounced the way they're pronounced.
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Back in the day (circa 1300), it was written <plesen>.
If you're curious about why a word is spelled the way it's spelled, your first recourse should be etymonline dot com.
Whence the <ea> I cannot say but some other words that were spelled <ai> in French are spelled <ea> in English: aise → ease, graisse → grease, fait → feat.
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Pleas is spelled <pleas> because it's the plural of pleas.