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I have recently joined a new company and realized that there are some employees fond of adding ", please" at the end of a sentence in emails, e.g.

I would like to send you the files in PDF format for your easy reference, please.

For your information, please.

Although I think the usage is weird, I did send "FYI, please." to my boss one time because it seems more polite to me than just "FYI."

Still, the whole please thing seems weird to me. Is it grammatically incorrect?

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  • I don't know that it's grammatically incorrect, but it does seem weird. Note that it is possible for a sentence to be both grammatically correct and nonsensical.
    – nnnnnn
    Commented Jan 22, 2020 at 13:46
  • There's nothing ungrammatical about it; it's just being extra polite. "I would like to send you X if I may, or if that's all right with you."
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Jan 22, 2020 at 14:22
  • Typically when you do a For your information email, you're doing the recipient a favor by giving them information that they might not otherwise have received. Since you are not requesting any action from them, there's no need to include a 'please'.
    – KillingTime
    Commented Jan 22, 2020 at 16:32
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    I think you're right, though-- it sounds a bit weird. I personally have never seen that (at least not as a regular thing).
    – PlutoThePlanet
    Commented Jan 22, 2020 at 16:36
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    'Please' may be avoided here, unless the writer seeks a recommendation, reference or so. Use of 'please' at the end of sentences works to dilute an imperative tone. "Please wait outside." is rude unlike "Wait outside, please" which is a little toned down.
    – Ram Pillai
    Commented Jan 23, 2020 at 1:50

2 Answers 2

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"Weird" is when you are woken in the night by the sound of strange music, you look out the window and you see flying turtles landing - that's "weird".

I confess to hyperbole.

However the OED's first sense of the word is:

  1. Having the power to control the fate or destiny of human beings, etc.; later, claiming the supernatural power of dealing with fate or destiny.

Later senses and examples are slightly more everyday, but the most urbane example of "weird" I was able to find in the OED was:

1855 C. Dickens Holly-tree Inn: Guest in Househ. Words Extra Christmas No. 5/2 He was a man with a weird belief in him that no one could count the stones of Stonehenge twice, and make the same number of them.

So writing "please" at the end of a sentence hardly qualifies as "weird" I would maintain.

Nonetheless, I do agree that using "please" in the way you describe is non-idiomatic.

My own way of giving that expression would be something like:

Please find attached the files for your information or

I have pleasure in attaching the files you require.

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    How often do people use weird as per the definition you quoted? In my experience most people use it as a synonym for strange. I suspect a lot of people aren't even aware of the supernatural sense.
    – nnnnnn
    Commented Jan 22, 2020 at 21:35
  • @nnnnnn Increasingly too often I fear. And simply because people cannot be troubled to enlarge the scope of their vocabulary. In this and a vast number of other ways English is being dumbed down.
    – WS2
    Commented Jan 22, 2020 at 21:43
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This is not a weird form of communication if it fits in with the company culture. Culture is defined as: [the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society (https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=define+culture).

This use of language may be classed as company culture. Company culture refers to the attitudes and behaviors of a company and its employees. It is evident in the way an organization's people interact with each other, the values they hold, and the decisions they make (Google: define company culture).

Saying that, the sentence "I would like to send you the files in PDF format for your easy reference, please" may suggest that a little 'sorry for the trouble this may cause you' is involved.

Alternatively, if the sentence originates from someone who is bilingual, it may be a direct translation from their mother tongue, where 'please' and 'thank you' have a similar meaning. It may also be polite to say 'please' at the end of a request.

For instance, the Italian word'ciao', used colloquially, may mean 'hello' or 'goodbye'.

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