Whats the rule that makes "please" pronounced the same as "pleas"?
Last Updated: 29.06.2025 19:05
If you're curious about why a word is spelled the way it's spelled, your first recourse should be etymonline dot com.
Please is an anglicization of the French word plaisir.
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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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.
Words are pronounced the way that they're pronounced.
There's no rule.
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You'll usually find your answer there.
Pleas is spelled <pleas> because it's the plural of pleas.
What's (not “whats”) the rule?
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Back in the day (circa 1300), it was written <plesen>.