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Saying "Thank you" in German

"Thanks" in German

The most common and simplest way is:

danke
thanks

If we want to show more thanks:

Vielen Dank!
Many thanks!

Danke schön!
Thanks a lot!

Danke sehr!
Thank you so much!

Tausend Dank!
Thanks a million!

Ich danke Ihnen!
I give you my thanks (formal)

Ich danke dir!
I thank you! (informal)

Gott sei Dank
Thank God

Vielen Dank im voraus
Thank you in advance (typically used when asking for a favor)

We think that German is quite difficult and these 2 simple words are an good example of this.

"Vielen Dank" is accusative.

Surely you are asking yourself: Why is "vielen Dank" declined in accusative?

Because when we say "Vielen Dank", we are omitting part of of the phrase. The phrase really is:

Ich sage dir vielen Dank
I say many thanks to you

Where "many thanks" completes the function of the direct object which is accusative in German.

viel means "much/a lot" and it is an adjective in German, which, in this case, has to be declined with the strong declension.

Currently, the custom of declining "viel" in the singular with the strong declension has been lost:

Malaga hat viel Wasser
Malaga has a lot of water

But the expression is so traditional that this custom continues:

That is why it is declined as: "vielen"

and

"Dank" means "thanks" and, just like all German nouns, it has to be capitalized.

There's a reason for everything!

The typical response to "danke" is:

Bitte
No problem/ You're welcome

This is a little weird because "bitte" also means "please"

Other more formal responses are:

Gern geschehen
you're welcome

Bitte schön
No problem/you're welcome

Nichts zu danken!
No reason to thank me!

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