Circonflexe on plaît

ThaliaC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Circonflexe on plaît

I noticed that only the 3rd person singular has the circonflexe on the i (Tu plais à Luc vs Elle plaît à Luc ).  Is there a reason for this? Just curious. 

Asked 3 years ago
ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

There are several reasons, some words take the circumflex. For instance, a letter that has „disappeared“ (forêt was once forest, hôpital was once hospital, etc.). Another reason is to distinguish them from their brethren without circumflex (pâle=pale, and pale=plank, rudder). But I couldn‘t find a reason why plaire takes on a circumflex in the third person singular: plaît

Anyway, here is a pretty comprehensive summary: https://www.francaisfacile.com/exercices/exercice-francais-2/exercice-francais-56617.php

 

AlanC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

In Old French, the 3rd person singular was plaist, so it's a missing "s" as Chris suggested.

https://www.verbix.com/webverbix/go.php?T1=plaire&Submit=Go&D1=12885846&H1=12885846

Circonflexe on plaît

I noticed that only the 3rd person singular has the circonflexe on the i (Tu plais à Luc vs Elle plaît à Luc ).  Is there a reason for this? Just curious. 

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