Why is the French way to say please is "S'il te plaît" and not "Pour Favour" like Spanish and Portuguese "Per Favor" and Italian "Per Favore" in the Romance languages group?
07.06.2025 21:52
It is just a matter of linguistical fashion. Germaine de Staël, at the beginning of the 19th century, wrote “je tiendrai encore à grande faveur que vous vouliez bien m'attendre en Angleterre” (You would please me by waiting my arrival in England). But “faveur” tended to become superlative, e.g.: “J’ai pu entrer par faveur” (somebody, let me exceptionally enter).
Usage may differ from a region to another. In the south, the answer to “Merci” (thank you”) is usually “avec plaisir” or “à votre service” (equivalent to Mexican Spanish “su servidor!”).