I saw a sentence in a book that goes like this: "If it so please the gods, so be it".
Why "please" is used instead of "pleases"? I suppose, that's some archaic stylization, but I'm not sure.
Thanks for your help!
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If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king's business ....') // Or What is the grammar behind thanks be to God?
– Edwin Ashworth Nov 09 '20 at 14:13Xis a fixed phrase with archaic syntax, sometimes called "subjunctive", which uses an infinitive form instead of a present tense form in certain phrases. In the US, the most common use is the legal phrase If it please the court, used only in formal judicial proceedings. Nobody talks this way, if that's what you're wondering. – John Lawler Nov 09 '20 at 15:00