1. 10 Ways to Answer “Thank You”
The Magic Word
Pleasantries like “please” and “thank you” are very important to native speakers of English:
They show that the other person is not obliged to do something for us – that she is our
equal. You may think that constantly using such words is excessively formal or e ven
hypocritical but you will find it much more difficult to get what you want if you don’t use
them at every opportunity. You have to remember that English does not have a
formal pronoun equivalent to French vous or Spanish Usted, so we have to mark
respect in other ways. “Please” is humorously known as “the magic word” by parents
because it is considered n ecessary to get what you want. “Please” can be used at the
beginning or at the end of a sentence. At the beginning of the sentence “please” can be
replaced by “kindly” – though this sounds rather formal and possibly pompous. At the end
of the sentence, you could use the phrase “if you don’t mind” instead of “please” if you
want.
Thanks A Million
“Thank you” is a simple enough concept though there are different grades of formality.
“Ta” or “cheers” are slang equivalents of “thank you”, and “thanks” is a colloquial
alternative. If you want to say thank you emphatically in an informal situation, you can say
“thanks very much” or “thanks a million”. If
you want to express special formal thanks, you can A: Ta
say, “thank you very much”, “many thanks” or B: Any time!
“much obliged”.
A: Cheers
Answering “Thank You” B: My pleasure!
English has a surprisingly wide range of
expressions to acknowledge thanks. Most standard A: Thanks
among these are perhaps: Not at all! It’s a B: Not at all!
pleasure! You’re welcome! and Don’t mention
it! A: Thanks very much
All of these expressions are used regularly. A more B: It’s a pleasure!
colloquial alternative is “any time!”, while “my
pleasure!” sounds quite formal. A: Thanks a million
And if you want further alternatives there are also: B: Don’t mention it!
Think nothing of it! It was nothing! That’s all
right! It’s all right! A: Thank you very much.
B: You’re welcome!
Examples
There is no direct correspondence between the A: Many thanks.
different forms of “thanks” and the answers you B: You’re welcome!
can give to thanks. But, to give you all example of
how these can correspond (and we emphasise that A: Much obliged
this just one set of possibilities) here you are the B: Think nothing of it!
following pairs: