alstublieft

Dutch

Etymology

A Contraction and univerbation of als +‎ het +‎ u +‎ belieft, literally "if it pleases you". Calque of French s’il vous plaît.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɑlstyˈblift/

• Audio:

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• Audio:

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• Hyphenation: als‧tu‧blieft
• Rhymes: -ift

Interjection

alstublieft

1. (formal) please
2. (formal) here you are (when handing something to someone else)

Usage notes

Alstublieft is generally used when giving a payment to a salesperson, to which the salesperson responds with dank u wel or an equivalent. It is also used by the salesperson when returning change to the customer, in which case the customer responds with dank u wel upon having received the change.

Synonyms

• (only the sense "please"): a.u.b.
• (both senses): alstu, alsjeblieft (informal)

Derived terms

• a.u.b.
• alstu

 

Descendants

• Berbice Creole Dutch: asblifu
• Skepi Creole Dutch: asublifi