In any language, the ability to express your sincere gratitude to someone is an important skill to develop.
Being able to say “thank you” to people who have helped you out is essential to cultivating new friendships as well as developing beneficial business relationships. It’s considered very rude not to thank people properly.
There are many English words and phrases that can be used to express your gratitude to someone and we are going to go through some of them in this post.
In English, the most common way to express gratitude is simply to say “thank you”. “Thank you” can be uttered when someone does you a favor or kindness.
“Thank you” is also a common and polite way of signing off a message or a correspondence, such as an e-mail, a letter, or even just a memo.
While a “thank you” will suffice on most occasions, if you want to mix things up a little you can consider using the following other phrases that basically mean “thank you”
1. Thanks
This is the shortened form of “thank you”. While it might have initially been the informal way of saying “thank you”, it's now considered appropriate for use in any situation and is practically interchangeable with “thank you”.
As you will see from the examples below, “thanks” is actually part of many phrases that are considered other ways to say thank you.
2. Thank you kindly
3. Thank you/thanks for everything
4. Thank you/Thanks very much
5. Many thanks
6. Warmest thanks
7. Thanks a lot
8. I can’t thank you enough
9. Please accept my deepest thanks
10. I’m so grateful
11. Eternally grateful
Note that “eternally grateful” is actually a phrase that tends to be associated with funerals nowadays. For example, “We are eternally grateful for your sympathies”.
12. Accept my endless gratitude
13. Beyond grateful
14. It is/That is very kind of you
15. I really appreciate it
16. I really appreciate your help
17. How thoughtful of you
18. All my love and thanks to you
19. How can I ever thank you enough?
20. How can I show you how grateful I am?
21. I humbly thank you
22. I’m really grateful for your help
23. Thank you for all your hard work on this.
If you are addressing an employee or a team member who has accomplished an important task, this is a great way to say “thank you”.
This way of saying thanks has the additional effect of being good for morale as; it combines a sincere expression of gratitude with praise. You’re telling the recipient that their work, their contributions to the company have been noticed and are appreciated.
24. Thanks, we couldn’t have pulled this off without you.
Similar to “thank you for all your hard work on this”, this way to say “thank you” combines a word of gratitude with praise. You are acknowledging that someone is a valuable part of your team.
25. I truly appreciate your hard work
This is a great way to end a personal e-mail to a valued co-worker. It is a little warmer than the other two above as it uses “I”. Using a personal pronoun gives the impression that you are speaking as a person and not a representative of the company. It makes this particular “thank you” seem more heartfelt.
26. I’m so thankful for everything you bring to the table.
Same as “I truly appreciate your hard work”. You are telling someone that they are a valued member of your team, company, or organization.
27. Grateful for your support.
This is a nice way to sign off on a team e-mail after a successful project.
28. I appreciate your time.
You can use this to acknowledge that someone did you a favor, which means that they put their time and effort into helping you out.
It can also be used to sign off in an e-mail or a memo where you are requesting someone’s time, like if you are trying to set up a meeting.
29. Thank you! You’re amazing.
This is a good way of saying thank you to a friend or family member. Again, this is a little informal, so it might not necessarily be appropriate in some settings. But it’s a nice way to not just say “thank you” but give someone a compliment.
Here are a few other variations of “thank you, you’re amazing” using a few other complimentary terms.
30. Thank you! You’re a genius.
If someone helped you out by suggesting a good solution to your problem, this is a great way of thanking them and acknowledging what they did to help you.
Since it is also a mixture of gratitude and praise, it’s not totally inappropriate to say to a co-worker or an employee. But it is a bit informal, so think about the wider audience before you decide to use it. It might be alright for use in an internal e-mail but not in something that shareholders will be reading.
31. Thank you! You’re a star/gem!
This is a cute way of saying thank you and praising a friend or family member. You are implying that they are precious and priceless.
32. Thank you! You’re a real peach/the bee’s knees
Calling someone a “peach” or “the bee’s knees” used to be a common, if a slangy way to say that they were “cool” or “awesome”. If you would like to bring these old-fashioned expressions back in use, they will definitely be a more interesting way to say “thank you”. Just remember, you might have to explain yourself.
33. You’re a lifesaver!
34. You’re an angel/dear
These three phrases are considered compliments, but they are also understood to be an expression of gratitude. If you want, you can add “Thank you” beforehand, but even if you don’t it is an accepted way to say thank you.
As we said, the phrases in this section are considered rather informal, so you should think about who and what you are saying thanks for. Especially when using two of these variations.
“Angel” and “dear” are also terms of endearment in English. They are not just informal but also a bit too familiar and “sweet”, so they might be taken as inappropriate.
35. I truly appreciate you.
36. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
These are two sweet and warm phrases to use to acknowledge that someone has done you an important favor.
37. Thanks a million
38. Thanks a bunch
39. Thanks a ton
Nice but informal ways of saying that you are very, very, very grateful. Basically informal ways of saying “thank you very much”
40. I appreciate your thoughtfulness, you’ve made my day.
If someone sent you a nice little gift, even if it wasn’t your birthday, this is a good way to thank them.
41. Thanks for being in my corner
This is a boxing reference. If you are in someone’s corner, then you are there supporting them in their “fight” or struggle.
42. I wish to thank everyone who pitched in.
43. Thank you for going above and beyond!
44. So glad you’re on my team.
These three phases to express gratitude are actually mostly used in an office setting, but again, informal. They could also be uttered in an academic setting if you were involved in a group project.
45. I owe you one
When you say this, you are acknowledging that someone did you a favor and promising that you will do something to “payback” that favor.
46. You’re too kind
You can say this if you want to acknowledge that someone has offered to do you a favor but you can also use it to say “thank you” for a compliment they paid you.
47. You’ve saved my life
Okay, the favor didn’t literally have to be a lifesaving one for you to say thank you with this phrase. They don’t have to have pulled you from a burning building – but you are still really grateful for what they did.
48. I don’t know what to say!
You are speechless with gratitude.
49. Oh, you shouldn’t have!
Kind of old fashioned, but still appropriate when someone gave you an unexpected gift.
Conclusion
One of the most fascinating and frustrating things about learning English is the fact that it is such an expressive language. There are so many different ways to express levels of feeling!
Just look at all these different ways of saying “thank you” that we’ve listed here!
“Thank you” is one of the first words that anyone needs to learn how to say in any language. It is essential that you understand how to use “thank you” and other English words and phrases to express gratitude as you will probably hear or read several of these daily.
Of course, you will also want to reciprocate and use these ways to say “thank you” to people who help you out. Knowing how to properly say “thank you” will help you make friends and keep you from being the “rude” foreigner.
A native English speaking tutor will be able to better explain to you the proper times to use the different ways to say “thank you” that we’ve discussed here. They might also have even more good suggestions about how you can express gratitude without necessarily saying the words “thank you”.
What are some different ways to say Thank you in English?
Thanks, Thanks for everything, Many thanks, Thanks a lot, I'm so grateful, Much appreciated
What does it mean to say You're a gem?
This is a cute way of saying thank you and praising a friend or family member. You are implying that they are precious and priceless.
What does it mean to say You are a real peach?
Calling someone a “peach” or “the bee’s knees” used to be a common, if a slangy way to say that they were “cool” or “awesome”. If you would like to bring these old-fashioned expressions back in use, they will definitely be a more interesting way to say “thank you”. Just remember, you might have to explain yourself.
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