partez s'il vous plaît
The English phrase "please leave" can be translated into French as partez s'il vous plaît.
partez s'il vous plaît is a polite way to ask someone to depart. Depending on your tone of voice, the phrase can still sound firm or cold.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the imperative verb partez (leave/go away) and the polite formula s'il vous plaît (if it pleases you).
Which one should you use?
While partez means to leave a place or a person, you might use sortez s'il vous plaît if you specifically mean to ask someone to exit a room or a building.
How does it change in a sentence?
If you are speaking to one person you know well or a child, you use the singular informal form pars s'il te plaît instead of the plural or formal partez s'il vous plaît.
Did you know?
- The formal vous in partez s'il vous plaît is a distant relative of the Russian word for you вы (vy). Both languages inherited this distinction from a common ancient ancestor.
- While partez s'il vous plaît is grammatically polite, the act of using the formal vous can actually create a psychological wall. It signals a professional or cold distance that makes the request feel more final than the words suggest.
- Using the word partez when someone is merely standing in a doorway can sound unnaturally dramatic to a native speaker. In this specific physical context, the word can feel overly cinematic or theatrical.
Examples in context
- Pourriez-vous partir, s'il vous plaît? Notre réunion est terminée.Could you please leave? Our meeting is over.
- Partez s'il vous plaît, je dois travailler.Please leave, I must work.
- Partez s'il vous plaît, c'est privé.Please leave, it is private.
- Partez s'il vous plaît, vous dérangez tout le monde.Please leave, you are bothering everyone.
Example conversation
Emma is asking Gabriel to leave her office.
- EmmaGabriel, partez s'il vous plaît.Gabriel, please leave.
- GabrielPourquoi ? Je n'ai pas fini.Why? I haven't finished.
- EmmaJ'ai un autre rendez-vous maintenant.I have another appointment now.
- GabrielD'accord, je m'en vais.Alright, I'm going.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries vous, CC BY-SA 4.0.
