Formal and Informal Ways to Show Appreciation With “Thank You” in Chinese

The most common ways

谢谢 is the phrase that you’ll see the most in daily life because it is simple and quick to say, but it is also basic, so let’s look at some more advanced ways to show appreciation.

If you’d like to say more than a simple thanks, you can use a few different expressions to say thank you to different degrees. For example

Thanks a million.

万分感谢

(wànfēn gǎnxiè)

Thank you very much.

非常感谢

(fēicháng gǎnxiè)

I can’t thank you enough

感激不尽

(gǎnjī bù jìn)

These examples are more formal than 谢谢，but they also show a deeper appreciation.

The More Specific Ways

If you would like to direct your thanks to a specific person or group of people, you can add a noun at the end to add emphasis:

谢谢/感谢+somebody

e.g.

• 谢谢你 (Xièxie nǐ.) Thank you.
• 谢谢你们 (Xièxie nǐmen.) Thank you all.
• 谢谢大家 (Xièxie dàjiā.) Thanks to everyone.
• 感谢我的家人 (Gǎnxiè wǒ de jiārén.) Thanks to my family.

If you would like to thank someone for doing something specific, you can emphasize that action by adding it at the end like so:

谢谢/感谢 + something

e.g.

• 谢谢你的帮助。(Xièxie nǐ de bāngzhù.) Thank you for your help.
• 谢谢你的鼓励。(Xièxie nǐ de gǔlì.) Thank you for your encouragement..
• 感谢你的支持。(Gǎnxiè nǐ de zhīchí.) Your support is greatly appreciated.
• 感谢你做的一切。(Gǎnxiè nǐ zuò de yīqiè.) Thank you for everything.

The Informal Ways

Just like in English, there are many different informal ways to thank someone, here are a couple of the simplest:

Thanks

谢了  

(Xièle.)

Many thanks

多谢  

(Duōxiè!)

There are also some more friendly ways to show your appreciation for someone, such as:

You are the best.

你最好了。

(Nǐ zuì hǎole.)

It’s so kind of you.

你真好。

( Nǐ zhēn hǎo)

Finally, here are a couple ways to be polite when someone helps you:

I appreciate your hard work.

辛苦了！

(Xīnkǔ le!)

Sorry to bother you.

麻烦你了！

(Máfan nǐ le!)

Longer Phrases

If you want to show someone your deep appreciation, you can say:

I really need to thank you well.

我得好好谢谢你。

(Wǒ děi hǎohǎo xièxie nǐ.)

I don’t know what to do without you.

没有你我不知道该怎么办。

(Méiyǒu nǐ wǒ bù zhīdào gāi zěnme bàn.)

I owe you one.

我欠你个人情。

(Wǒ qiàn nǐ gè rénqíng.)

I really don’t know how to repay you.

真不知道该怎么感谢你。

( Zhēn bù zhīdào gāi zěnme gǎnxiè nǐ )

Thank you for doing me this big favor.

多亏你帮了我个大忙。

(Duōkuī nǐ bāngle wǒ gè dàmáng.)

consider using some of these longer phrases that are more polite and sentimental.

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