You get some coffee for your colleague from the cafeteria, he says “thank you, you are so nice!”
You bring your English-speaking neighbor some food you just have cooked, she says ” it’s delicious, thank you!”
You call a long-time-no-see friend and say happy birthday to him, he says “how wonderful you are, thank you so much!”
In these cases, what should you reply? Now, “you’re welcome” or “you are welcome” is a perfectly valid way to respond to a thank you. It’s completely natural that you find one way you like to say things and then you say it again, and again, and again. However; the phrase “you are welcome” seems to be a little bit overused, especially by learners of English. In this article, Learn English Fun Way with share with you all of the ways that you can respond to thank you. Hope that through reading this writing, you can expand your vocabulary bank, so that you have many more options when somebody thanks you.
This writing is going to be perfect for improving your vocabulary. Right, let’s get started with the lesson!
I) Ways To Respond “Thank You” In Informal Situations
Let’s begin with informal or casual phrases that you can use with your friends and family.
1, You’re welcome.
If you really want to emphasize that their thanks has been taken into consideration, you can say, you’re very welcome. This is quite a British style.
For example:
“Thank you so much for packing my shopping for me.” –“Oh, you’re very welcome”
2, No problem
This one is slightly more American. Bear in mind that the older generation seem to dislike this one. So keep that in your head if a slightly older person is thanking you.
For example:
“Thanks for the help today.” – “No problem, I enjoyed helping you.”
3, Thank you.
This way to respond to thank you is all about the emphasis. If somebody thanks you but you think that they should be thanked, you can say, no, thank you. Or just, thank you.
For example:
“Thanks for accepting the invitation.” – “Thank you.”
=> I’m emphasizing that really, I should be thanking them because they invited me somewhere.
4, The pleasure is mine.
You can also shorten it to make it less formal by saying, my pleasure, or simply, pleasure, that’s very casual.
For example:
“Thanks for taking the parcel in for me.” – “Pleasure.”
=> That’s a short way of saying it was my pleasure, or the pleasure is mine, or was mine
5, I know you’d do the same for me.
This response should only be used with people you know well.
For example:
“I’d like to thank you for looking after my cat so well.” – “I know you’d do the same for me.”
=> I know you’d look after my cat, so I looked after yours
6, That’s all right.
This response is much more casual and slightly less heartfelt. You might say this if you don’t really care, or if somebody is thanking you for doing something that you might not have wanted to do. But depending on the intonation and the tone of voice, it can also be quite warm.
For example:
“Thank you for picking me up from the station” – “That’s all right.”
=> I know you’d look after my cat, so I looked after yours
7, No worries.
This is a very casual response, especially used with your closed friends or family.
For example:
“Thanks for letting me know that my car alarm was going off.” – “No worries, I thought I’d better tell you.”
8, Don’t mention it.
The response is very British and quite self-deprecating.
For example:
“Thank you so much for bringing the desert”- “Oh, don’t mention it.”
=> It was a lot of effort to bring dessert probably. And they probably do want you to mention it, but we just say, don’t mention it because, oh, it was nothing.
9, It was the least I could do.
This response is very heartfelt, very British, very self-deprecating.
For example:
“Thank you for visiting me in hospital”- “Oh, it was the least I could do.”
10, Anytime.
This is quite a casual and generous response.
For example:
“Thank you for stopping by”- “Oh, anytime”
11, Sure.
It is rarely used in the UK. And yes, it is a very casual response. “ Sure” – Only one word answer to say “you’re welcome”. It often goes hand in hand with no problem, “sure, no problem”
For example:
“Thank you for thinking of me” – “Sure, no problem”
12, It was nothing.
This is another self-deprecating response. It’s a way of saying that what they are thanking you for was no extra effort.
For example:
“Thank you for picking my kids up from school.” – “Oh, it was nothing, my kids already needed picking up.”
II) Ways To Respond “Thank You” In Formal Situations
These ways of responding to thank you are more likely to be used in business situations, or maybe in a shop or a restaurant.
1, Much obliged.
This response is very British and quite old fashioned. The full formal way of saying it is “I’m very much obliged to you”
For example:
“Thank you so much doctor” – “I’m very much obliged to you.”
2, You’re most welcome.
This response does sound very posh. So, you should use it with careful thought, or planning. You can consider saying that phrase if you’re in a very formal situation.
For example:
“Thank you for sending me some forms.” – “You’ re most welcome.”
=> In this case, one is saying thanks to her solicitor for sending her some forms, and her solicitor says “you’re most welcome”. This response is suitable as this is a formal legal situation.
3, We appreciate your business / We appreciate your custom.
You use “we appreciate your business” if you’re talking to a business client and “we appreciate your custom” if you’re talking to a customer.
For example:
“Thank you for sending the sample so promptly.” – “Thank you for sending the sample so promptly.”
4, I’m happy to help.
This response is usually used for business situations, and is the common response among given by the native speakers.
For example:
“Thank you for helping me carry the coffees to the office.” – “Oh, I’m happy to help.”
It is the end of our lesson today! Thank you for reading and hope you can apply well all the above-mentioned responses to thank you. To get further explanation as practice your listening English, you should watch the video below. The English teacher- Lucy, with her warm voice and interesting ways of presentation, will certainly make you become engaged in the lesson.
Credit: Youtube “English With Lucy”
