15 Ways to Say “Thank You” in English

Hello! Today’s lesson is about 15 ways to say thank you. Of course, we say thank you to express gratitude; it’s important that people know that we appreciate what they have done when, when they helped us. Partly, this is just because it’s the right thing to do, and partly because if we don’t say thank you, they might not help us again in the future, so it’s kind of for them, but it’s also kind of for us. Because we do this so often, it’s good to have a good feeling for a few different ways that you can say this. Just a cultural note here: English speakers tend to say thank you more than some other cultures. Now, if that’s normal in that culture, that’s great but in English cultures, we generally say thank you a lot, and, even if you might think that’s a little bit silly, it is what is expected in English cultures, so if we want to fit in, we want people to continue to help us, it’s important that we learn to say thank you appropriately. So first of all – nice and easy one – thanks. We use this for things, just kind of little favors that people do for us; hand us a pen or some little thing like that, just to to acknowledge that they have helped us in some way. This one is interesting. A lot of my students use this, and I I’ve asked them and they, this is why they tell me they use it. It’s because when they were first learning English, they asked what’s kind of a very strong, a very good way, of saying thank you, and this was the answer: thank you so much. The problem is that people often overuse this. So they say thank you so much for things that really aren’t that big a deal. So again, if a classmate lends you a pen – oh thank you so much! it’s it’s it’s okay, it’s just a pen, don’t don’t worry about it. And the problem is if we use it too often, it starts to lose its meaning, and when we do really want to say thank you in a stronger than normal way, if we’ve been saying this all the time, then we don’t have a stronger way of saying thank you, so don’t overuse this one. It’s a perfectly good one, but understand that it’s fairly strong. The same is also true for thank you very much. Okay number three: that’s very kind of you. So this is… it doesn’t even use the word thank you, but I am saying that, that was very nice of you to do what you did to help me. Again, this is a little bit stronger. It’s… it can be used in formal situations or more relaxed situations as well. Number four: I appreciate it, or I really appreciate it, or I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. So there’s three variations, each one a little bit stronger than the last, and again, we’re saying thank you without using the word thank you, but we are saying that what you have done is is something that I really do thank you for; I have gratitude for what you have done. Number five – fairly informal but at the same time fairly, kind of, fairly warm: you made my day. So, you know, hearing you say that to me, or, or watching you help help somebody or help me, whatever it was, that was really you know, it was the best part of my day, so thank you very much, you you really made my day. Number six: I can’t thank you enough. Again, a very strong way of saying thank you. Be careful about using this one. It sounds funny, I can’t thank you enough, it seems to me that some people use this one a little bit too freely, and again, if you use very strong ways of saying thank you for things that are not that big a deal, it can leave you not being able to really say thank you when you really really mean it. Number seven – this is kind of a funny one. It’s obviously very informal, or at least I hope that’s obvious! It… we can use when somebody got us out of a really difficult situation, and you want to to really thank them, but at the same time, you’re doing it in kind of an informal, relaxed way: you really saved my bacon. Where did the bacon come from? I don’t know. How did they save it? I don’t know. What happened to the bacon? I don’t know. Stop asking questions. The thing is, you really saved my bacon is kind of a fun, relaxed, but at the same time, sincere way of saying thank you. So here’s some others that are fairly informal. Thanks a ton, thanks a million, thanks a bunch. All these obviously mean thank you at a fairly high degree. They’re also fairly informal. Cheers – now here’s an interesting one. This is quite common in the UK. In fact, I read something just a few days ago, although was actually from 2010, that said that young people in particular in the UK prefer to say cheers over thank you, so more people said Cheers than thank you in the UK in 2010. I think that that has probably continued. Number 10: you’re a lifesaver so it’s kind of like saving my bacon. They probably didn’t actually literally save your life, but it’s a fairly strong way – strong and informal way of saying thank you for something that somebody has done. This one to me sounds a little bit old-fashioned, and there’s nothing wrong with that, a little bit formal, there’s nothing wrong with that: you’re too kind. Oh! Thank you so much; you’re too kind. That’s something else I should mention: we can often use two or three of these; we don’t need to choose just one – you can mix and match as you like. Number 12: Oh! You shouldn’t have! When people say that you shouldn’t have, they mean you shouldn’t have made such an effort; you shouldn’t have done all this work; you shouldn’t have gone to the trouble. A party for me? Oh! You shouldn’t have! Isn’t English weird? Number 13: This one, partly, I think because it’s a little bit longer, and partly just the nature of it, sounds very sincere and truly, very deeply thankful. I want you to know how much this means to me! So you probably knew it meant something when you helped me, but I want to be very clear that I’m making it very clear that this really is something that is important to me, and I really want to say thank you very much. So this would be… this wouldn’t be something, you know, somebody gives you a ride to to school. This would be something somebody has helped you for a long time, or somebody really goes out of their way to help you. This is a very very serious, very sincere one. Number fourteen: this sounds quite formal and I would expect to see this mostly in writing. I wouldn’t expect to hear this very often. Please accept my deepest gratitude. Please accept my my deepest thanks. So again, there’s nothing wrong with it, just make sure you use it in the right place. And number 15: I won’t forget this. You’ve done something that’s really helped me, and I’m going to remember it, and the suggestion is that I’m going to find a way to pay you back – in a nice way – or I’m going to perhaps treat you or think of you differently because of how you have helped me. So, I won’t forget this is a very warm and sincere way of saying thank you. So there we go: 15 ways to say thank you. I hope you won’t forget this. You see what I did there? I’m not saying thank you I’m just saying I think you should remember!