Whats the rule that makes "please" pronounced the same as "pleas"?
Last Updated: 03.07.2025 03:58
There's no rule.
What's (not “whats”) the rule?
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.
Pleas is spelled <pleas> because it's the plural of pleas.
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.
Back in the day (circa 1300), it was written <plesen>.
New species of dinosaur discovered that 'rewrites' T.rex family tree - BBC
You'll usually find your answer there.
Words are pronounced the way that they're pronounced.
Please is an anglicization of the French word plaisir.
Everything Apple Announced at WWDC 2025 - WIRED
If you're curious about why a word is spelled the way it's spelled, your first recourse should be etymonline dot com.