Monday, November 7, 2011

Danke, Danke schön, Danke sehr ... - When to say what

As a native to the German language I have never been aware of the different ways of saying thank you that the German language is offering. I would have even said that they all mean the same. But since I have more and more contact with foreigners learning German, I realize that it is not the same. I am not sure, if a foreigner will ever get the nuances, but I decided to get you off the thin ice and give you some "safe" expressions.

Most important: there is actually no need at all to add something to the simple DANKE. That's it. More words do not mean more danke. Period. End of lesson. If you are really more thankful than the average politeness, just add a smile.

Now I am wondering if Schiller, Goethe & Friends invented more expressions around Danke since Germans are not exactly known for using the facial muscles. The wordy German can save on the smile by adding words. Conclusion: Danke + big smile. Deal!

Many students learn in their German lesson Danke schön. The longer I look at this combination, the more ridiculous it becomes.
Somehow "all" the foreign students seem to love it. And they say it all the time though there are not special thanks required in the situation. Even worse: most have really difficulties with the proper pronunciation of "schön" (beautiful). If you say "schon" instead of "schön" it is not the same word any more. "Schon" means "already". Trouble ahead. Spare yourself the hassle and drop it. It is from the x-teenth century anyway. You can replace Danke schön with Danke sehr . Fully replaced and you look good!

You want more of variety? You can upgrade the Danke sehr by Danke vielmals (many times). It is very polite and rather said to a person that you address with their family name. You would use the Danke vielmals also only if you are more thankful than "very" (sehr). These are the "nuances" that I meant. The subject is getting complicated.

I consulted www.leo.org to see what else they offer for DANKE. Here is the impressive result:

http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&lang=de&searchLoc=0&cmpType=relaxed&sectHdr=on&spellToler=&search=Danke


That is a nice and really useful one: Danke, gleichfalls. - Thank you, same to you. That is great. You often leave a store and people wish you a nice day. The danke gleichfalls is veeery German. Put it on your list. You can also say that on the phone (I have to remind myself that I will post another comment about things to say on the phone, hopefully within the next days).

Vielen Dank im Voraus (please, only one R in Voraus), thank you in advance. Exact translation. Useful for emails.

I think we are done, now. The rest on the list from LEO is a bit stiff, but absolutely correct, of course.

The English languages offers a nice and easy way to express thanks: "Thanks for ... ing." In German it seems a bit stiff, but it is correct to say : Danke, dass ... (now, the full sentence with a verb). Oder: Danke für ... (put the noun here).

Examples:

Danke für deine  / Ihre Hilfe -> Thanks for your (form/inf.) help.
Danke, dass du mir geholfen hast / Sie mir geholfen haben -> Thanks for helping me (describing a past action)


5 comments:

  1. Danke vielmals. Das ist sehr gut.

    ReplyDelete
  2. thank you very much! it was really helpful! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Danke für deine Hilfe! (no, really)

    Ich bin nur ein Anfänger: You describe "Danke für deine/Ihre Hilfe" as being formal/informal. Isn't it the other way around, with deine being informal and ihre being formal? Could be wrong, just thought I'd ask.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Danke für deine Hilfe! (no, really)

    Ich bin nur ein Anfänger: You describe "Danke für deine/Ihre Hilfe" as being formal/informal. Isn't it the other way around, with deine being informal and ihre being formal? Could be wrong, just thought I'd ask.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for this overview. I appreciate the information. Danke. =)

    ReplyDelete