Plaisent

Plaisent is the third-person plural present tense form of the French verb plaire, which means “to please” or “to be pleasing.” In French, plaire is used with the construction plaire à quelqu’un, meaning “to please someone.” The form plaisent appears when the subject of the sentence is plural, as in Les idées plaisent au public (The ideas please the public) or Les films plaisent aux spectateurs (The films please the spectators).

Etymology and usage context: Plaire comes from Latin placere, a root shared with other Romance languages and with the English word “please” through historical development. In contemporary French, plaire is used both of concrete objects and abstract ideas that elicit approval or satisfaction. Plaisent, as a present-tense form, is most commonly encountered in sentences where multiple items or ideas are being described as pleasing.

Grammatical notes: The standard present forms of plaire are irregular in several persons, but plaisent follows the expected pattern for the third-person plural. The verb is most often found in impersonal or experiential expressions, such as Cela plaît, or in sentences where a plural subject is referenced: Les résultats plaisent aux investisseurs. Because the verb governs an indirect object with à, the construction is typically allergenified by means of à + pronoun (leur, lui, leur). In everyday usage, speakers frequently choose the equivalent construction Cela leur plaît instead of repeating a plural subject with plaisent.

See also: plaire, pleaser (in English contexts discussed as related linguistic concept).