plaît

Plaît is the third-person singular present indicative form of the French verb plaire, meaning to please or to be pleasing. In French, plaire is used with the indirect object pronoun to indicate to whom something is pleasing; the thing that pleases is the subject of the sentence. The common construction is cela/ça + plaît + à + someone, or the shorter form cela me plaît, meaning that something is to my liking. For example, Cela plaît à Marie means "That pleases Marie," and Ça me plaît means "I like that." The verb also appears with other subjects: Le film plaît au public (The film pleases the audience), Cet acteur plaît à tout le monde (That actor is popular with everyone).

Conjugation and related forms: The full present tense is je plais, tu plais, il/elle plaît, nous plaisons, vous plaisez, ils/elles plaisent. Plaire is irregular in the present tense, and its past participle is plu, used with avoir in compound tenses: Cette idée a plu. The imperfect is plaisait, and the subjunctive present is plaise (je/tu/il que cela lui plaise).

Usage notes: Plaire contrasts with déplaire, meaning to displease. Expressions with plaire often describe tastes, attractiveness, or general appeal, and can refer to people, works of art, styles, or ideas. Common phrases include ça me plaît, cela ne me plaît pas, et cet artiste plaît à la critique.

Etymology: Plaire derives from Latin placere, meaning to be agreeable or pleasing. In modern French, the form plaït appears in the visible present tense, while related forms share the same root as other Romance languages.