# Saying 'Please, Please, Please!' In French? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 25, 2021, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734 "2021-04-25T08:53:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/1 "2021-04-25T08:53:57Z")
I took French in high school. And my father was three-quarters French. So it is a language that has always been near and dear to my heart. But one thing that they didn’t cover in French class. How do you say ‘please, please, please!’ in French, that is, like you are pleading with someone? I know ‘please’ is translated as ‘Si vous plait’, no? But ‘Si vous plait, Si vous plait, Si vous plait!’ just sounds too cumbersome. So it couldn’t be that. Am I wrong? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/2 "2021-04-25T09:29:49Z")
My own French is a bit rusty, but I don’t think there’s a direct equivalent to “please” in the sense of one single word for a request that flows smoothly even if used several times in a row. If the intention you want to express is that of begging submissively for something, then I think you can use a more humble formulation, such as “Je vous (or “te”) prie”. The spelling is “s’il vous plaît” (or “s’il te plaît” for a person you’re on “tu” terms with), by the way - which literally translates as “If it pleases you”. ---
**Author:** ![Acierocolotl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acierocolotl/32/6241_2.png) [@Acierocolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acierocolotl)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/3 "2021-04-25T10:50:12Z")
An extra-short version is that you can’t expect to translate something straight across. There’s a thread somewhere around here, not all that old as these things go, about translating idioms. In this case, please x3 is idiomatic wheedling or begging, generally in the context of a kid really laying on an extra-long e in the last “please”. Pleeeeeeeeeeease. You’ll have to work a bit harder in French, though “je vous en supplie” is probably the closest generic begging thing I can give you on short notice. The rest, of course, is context. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/4 "2021-04-25T12:26:22Z")
And that’s why the French never produced their own James Brown. The French language is good for some things but flops on others. “Au secours!” doesn’t carry nearly as well as “HELP!” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/5 "2021-04-25T12:32:06Z")
I had a high school teacher who told us that the real reason for the fall of the Roman Empire was that “auxilium”, the Latin word for “help”, is four syllables long. If you’re falling in a pit or something, by the time you could ask for help, it’d be too late. ---
**Author:** ![Acierocolotl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acierocolotl/32/6241_2.png) [@Acierocolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acierocolotl)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/6 "2021-04-25T12:36:53Z")
“M’aidez!” Which, maybe possibly kinda totally, got anglicized to “mayday”. (In my experience, linguistic histories that seem to make sense absolutely don’t.) ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/7 "2021-04-25T13:56:14Z")
I’ve heard that story about “mayday” and “M’aidez!” as well, but I never quite believed it. Isn’t that ungrammatical French, with the correct wording being “Aidez-moi!”? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/8 "2021-04-25T15:23:50Z")
It appears to be true > **[Where Does the Word 'Mayday' Come From?](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/mayday-meaning-origin)** > > The amazing origin of a famous distress call ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/9 "2021-04-25T18:12:59Z")
“Please” has a number of different meanings: to make someone happy, to beg for something, as a formality… Saying it multiple times might depend on the intended meaning rather than a direct translation: Is this for a song translated from English? Are you really saying “c’mon, c’mon, I’m begging you!”, is this trying to emphasize how hard one tries to please (I would like to super-please you)? Each might be expressed differently. ---
**Author:** ![Acierocolotl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acierocolotl/32/6241_2.png) [@Acierocolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acierocolotl)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/10 "2021-04-25T18:56:22Z")
“Aidez-moi!” is the imperitive form, the shouty, commandy sort of way. “Voulez-vous m’aider,” is the… whatever-it-is-form. You know, the form that’s not the other form. Both are certainly grammatical. There’s probably some exotic case, the ship-is-going-down-with-all-hands verb tense, where “m’aidez!” is preferred to “m’aider!” but they sound the same so, hopefully, people hadn’t stopped to give the captain in distress an earful about spelling. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/11 "2021-04-25T20:40:59Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The French language is good for some things but flops on others. “Au secours!” doesn’t carry nearly as well as “HELP!” True, but MAYDAY (the English spelling version of m’aidez or “help me”) has become internationally known and accepted. ETA: ninja’d. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/12 "2021-04-25T22:07:03Z")
@Dr_Paprika Not for a song. I just wanted a general translation. If it helps, while I was writing the OP, I was thinking perhaps on begging someone to stop. E.g., Stop hitting me, or something like that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/13 "2021-04-25T22:26:51Z")
I’m no expert. “S’il vous plait” means “if it pleases you” and is purely a formality. You wouldn’t really repeat that. There is a circumflex on the i, which I am too lazy to include. “C’mon, c’mon, do it! I beg you!” might be along the lines of “Allons, allons, Fais-le, je t’en prie!”. “I would like to please you”: je voudrais faire vous plaisir. “Stop that. Stop. Bad.” might be along the lines of “Fais pas ca. Arret. Mechant(e).” ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/14 "2021-04-25T22:28:08Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > @Dr_Paprika Not for a song. I just wanted a general translation. If it helps, while I was writing the OP, I was thinking perhaps on begging someone to stop. E.g., Stop hitting me, or something like that. 🙂 I suppose you could say something like “pitié !” or “je t’en supplie” ? [![](http://vanhoutenn.free.fr/projet/image/etrangers/romains/ziguepus.jpg) ](http://vanhoutenn.free.fr/projet/image/etrangers/romains/ziguepus.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/15 "2021-04-25T22:29:45Z")
I suppose you could. It would sound weird in Quebec, though. I’d say it as I did above. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/16 "2021-04-25T23:06:22Z")
> [@](#): > > THAÏS > > _(avec épouvante se jetant à ses pieds)_ > Ah ! > _(frémissante)_ > Pitié ! Ne me fais pas de mal ! > Parle ! que me veux-tu? Non ! > Ah ! par pitié, tais-toi ! par pitié, tais-toi ! > Je n’ai pas plus > _(haletante)_ > choisi mon sort que ma nature ! > Et ce n’est pas ma faute à moi si je suis belle. > _(très déchirant et expressif)_ > Pitié ! Ne me fais pas mourir ! > Ah ! je crains tant la mort ! Ne me fais pas mourir ! pitié ! > Ne me fais pas de mal ! > _(presque parlé, en sanglotant)_ > Pitié ! pitié ! Non ! Ne me fais pas mourir ! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/568uNvUC_y0/maxresdefault.jpg "Thaïs, Act II Scene 1: Pitié! Ne me fais pas de mal!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=568uNvUC_y0) ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/17 "2021-04-25T23:17:42Z")
At least they weren’t singing _Chevaliers de la table ronde_ or _Sacre Charlemagne_. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/18 "2021-04-25T23:39:31Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > If it helps, while I was writing the OP, I was thinking perhaps on begging someone to stop. E.g., Stop hitting me, or something like that. In which case ‘stop stop stop’ might be better French than ‘please please please’? I don’t know languages, but ‘stop stop stop’ is good Italian. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/19 "2021-04-26T00:13:41Z")
you mean “arrête arrête arrête arrête arrête arrête”: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/o_0SorPNcu4/maxresdefault.jpg "(BENZEMA & LACRIM) c'est noir ! arrête arrête !! [HD 1080p]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_0SorPNcu4) ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734/20 "2021-04-26T06:37:10Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > “Stop that. Stop. Bad.” might be along the lines of “Fais pas ca. Arret. Mechant(e).” IME of overhearing harassed mothers in France it’s “ARRÊTE! AR-RÊT—TE-!” Plus in extremis, an emphatic addition, like “Merde!” or even “Putain!” (the latter definitely NSFW). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-please-please-please-in-french/940734.md?page=2)