Say Thank You in German

There are lots of ways to express your gratitude German. This article will teach you some of them.

10 Second Summary

1. Say "danke" for "thanks".
2. Say "Ich danke Ihnen" or "Ich danke dir” for “I thank you”.
3. Say "danke sehr" for "thank you very much".
4. Say "tausend dank!" for "a thousand thanks!"

Steps

Basic Thanks

  1. Say "danke."[1] Danke is an interjection that translates literally into "thanks" or "thank you."
    • Pronounce the term DAHN-keh, with the emphasize landing on the first syllable.
    • Danke is related to the noun dank, meaning "thanks" or "gratitude."
  2. State "Ich danke Ihnen" or "Ich danke dir.” Both sentences translate into, “I thank you.”
    • Ich is the German term for "I."
    • In this sentence, danke is a conjugated form of the verb danken, meaning "to thank."[2]
    • When capitalized, Ihnen is the formal pronoun used to mean "you." Dir is the informal pronoun used for "you."
    • Pronounce the former as, eech DAHN-keh EE-nun.
    • Pronounce the latter as, eech DAHN-keh DEAR.
  3. Use “bitte” in response to an offer. If you respond to an offer with the standard danke, you will actually be saying the equivalent of “no thank you.” Instead, accept an offer by using the term “bitte,” an interjection meaning “please.”
    • Pronounce bitte” as BIT-eh.

Emphatic Thanks

  1. Thank someone very much with "danke schön" or “danke sehr.” Both phrases are used to place further emphasis on the thanks, but "danke sehr" is slightly stronger than "danke schön."
    • The term "schön" means "beautiful" or nice" on its own. It is not directly translated in the phrase "danke schön."
    • The term "sehr" means "a lot" or "very much" on its own. As such, the phrase "danke sehr" is translated to "thanks a lot" or "thank you very much."
    • Pronounce danke schön as DAHN-keh shoon.
    • Pronounce danke sehr as DAHN-keh zaer.
  2. Offer a thousand thanks with "tausend dank!"[3] This translates literally into "a thousand thanks!"
    • Tausend is the German word for the English "thousand."
    • In this phrase, the dank is a noun meaning "thanks."
    • Pronounce this phrase as TAU-zent DAHNK.
  3. Use "danke vielmals" or "vielen dank" to express great thanks, as well. Both phrases express the sentiment of giving many thanks.
    • Danke vielmals is an interjection that translates into "many thanks" or "thanks very much." Danke comes from the standard interjection for "thanks" and vielmals means "very much."
    • Vielen dank is also an interjection that translates into "thank you very much" or "many thanks." Vielan means "many" and dank is the German noun for "thanks."
    • Pronounce the former as, DAHN-keh FEEL-malls.
    • Pronounce the latter as, FEEL-en DAHNK.
  4. State your gratitude with "Ich bin Ihnen sehr dankbar für."[4] The phrase translates into, "I am very grateful to you for..."
    • Ich means "I" and Ihnen, when capitalized, is the formal way of saying "you." You can also replace Ihnen with dir, the less formal version of "you."
    • The term bin means "am."
    • The phrase sehr dankbar means "very grateful" or "very thankful."
    • The term für means "for."
    • Fill in the remainder of the sentence with an explanation of what you are thankful for.
    • The rough pronunciation of this phrase is, eek bin (EEH-nun / DEAR) DAHNK-bar fe-ur.
  5. Offer your gratitude with "Mit tiefer Dankbarkeit." This phrase means "with deep gratitude."
    • The term mit means "with."
    • Dankbarkeit means "gratitude." When combined with tiefer, the phrase tiefer Dankbarkeit means "deep gratitude."
    • The sentence should be pronounced, MITT TEEF-er DAHNK-bar-kite.

Replying to Thanks

  1. Use "gern geschehen.”[5] This is the standard way to say "you're welcome," "my pleasure," "not at all," or "do not mention it."
    • Gerne means "gladly."
    • Geschehen means "happen," "occur," or "take place."
    • The literal translation of the phrase will not make much sense, but it essentially sends the message that you are glad to have done something for the speaker offering thanks.
    • The phrase is pronounced, GHERN gah-SHANE.
  2. Simply state “gerne.” A more informal way to say "you're welcome" is to simply state "gerne," meaning "gladly."
    • Pronounce the term as GHERN.

Cheat Sheet

Doc:Ways to Say Thank You in German

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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.uwosh.edu/home_pages/faculty_staff/minniear/pages/LanguageAids.pdf
  2. ↑ http://conjugator.reverso.net/conjugation-german-verb-danke.html
  3. ↑ http://www.teamchicago.org/node/333
  4. ↑ http://blogs.germanpod101.com/blog/2009/08/09/how-to-say-%E2%80%9Cthank-you%E2%80%9D-in-german/
  5. ↑ http://www.learnalanguage.com/learn-german/german-phrases/german-survival.php

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