Learn how to say "thank you"
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| Hallo, ich heiße Laura. Hi everybody! I am Laura. |
| Welcome to GermanPod101.com’s “Deutsch in 3 Minuten”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn German. |
| In the last lesson, we learned how to introduce ourselves in German. Today we’re going to learn how to use good manners as we thank people. |
| Fertig? Are you ready? Los! So let’s start! |
| There are several ways to thank someone, let’s start with the easiest. It is just one word: |
| Danke. |
| [slowly] Danke. |
| Danke means “thank you”. |
| When saying “thank you very much” you just need to add sehr. |
| [slowly] Danke sehr. |
| Sehr means “a lot”. So Danke sehr is like saying “Thank you very much.” |
| During the last lesson we discussed the informal and the formal way of speaking German. Danke is the casual way to thank someone. If you want to be more formal, there is another phrase you should use. |
| Ich danke Ihnen. [slowly] Ich danke Ihnen. |
| Let’s break this phrase down. Ich is I, and danke means thanks. Ihnen is a formal word for you in the dative case. Notice that we don’t use Sie as in the last lesson. We will discuss German pronouns in more depth in a later lesson. The full sentence once again: Ich danke Ihnen. |
| How do you answer? It’s easy! Here are two different ways to do it. |
| The first is: |
| Bitte schön. |
| [slowly] Bitte schön |
| Bitte schön can be used with just about anybody. |
| The other way to say “you are welcome” is the expression: |
| Gern geschehen. |
| [slowly] Gern geschehen. |
| Literally, this phrase means "I liked it to happen" or "happened with pleasure,” but it has become a common and polite way to respond to someone |
| thanking you. |
| So when someone saying Danke to you, we can simply reply with: |
| Bitte schön or Gern geschehen. |
| Now it’s time for Laura’s Insights. |
| If you’re not sure about whether to use Danke or Ich danke Ihnen, keeping it simple is always your safest bet. You don’t have to worry about formal or informal situations; Danke can be used with just about anyone, anywhere, and at anytime! |
| Do you know what Auf Wiedersehen means? In our next lesson you’ll learn this and other greetings in German! |
| Danke und bis zur nächsten Lektion! |
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