[General] All rise, please./ Please all rise.

Which is correct?

Thank you.

jiaruchan said:

Which is correct?

Thank you.

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The first, in my opinion. Having said that, the last time I was in a courtroom, no-one said "please". The bailiff (or court clerk) simply said "All rise" when the judge entered the courtroom.

emsr2d2 said:

The first, in my opinion. Having said that, the last time I was in a courtroom, no-one said "please". The bailiff (or court clerk) simply said "All rise" when the judge entered the courtroom.

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That is what I think too. But I heard earlier today a Chinese host say 'Please all rise', which I don't think is correct.

The event was the Shanghai Expo opening ceremony, where the host said it in English asking all to stand up in response to kind of anthem playing thing.

jiaruchan said:

That is what I think too. But I heard earlier today a Chinese host say 'Please all rise', which I don't think is correct.

The event was the Shanghai Expo opening ceremony, where the host said it in English asking all to stand up in response to kind of anthem playing thing.

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To be honest "Please, all rise" isn't exactly wrong, it just doesn't sound as good as the other way round. If the sentence were longer, then it would be a different story:

Please, all rise for the national anthem of ........ etc.

But as a short, 3-word phrase, I think "All rise, please" simply sounds neater.

emsr2d2 said:

To be honest "Please, all rise" isn't exactly wrong, it just doesn't sound as good as the other way round. If the sentence were longer, then it would be a different story:

Please, all rise for the national anthem of ........ etc.

But as a short, 3-word phrase, I think "All rise, please" simply sounds neater.

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Does it have to be a pause after 'please'?

jiaruchan said:

Does it have to be a pause after 'please'?

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To me, yes! It's a little different from saying "Please do this right now" where you wouldn't necessarily pause. When you're inviting someone to do something in a rather polite way, I would pause slightly after please. I'm sure other people here will disagree with me and say there is no pause and therefore no comma needed.

I think "Would you please all rise for..." or "And now let us all rise for..." sounds more familiar, but I agree that with the pause, it doesn't sound abnormal.