How to express gratitude in Italian

And I think so too. Gratitude goes hand in hand with good manners, something Italians are very keen on. In fact, Italians thank a lot!

It’s quite usual to hear the subsequent interaction where someone says grazie (thank you) and the other one responses grazie a te (thank you to you). Grazie is definitely one of those words you should not be worry to overuse in Italy.

If you want to sound like a native Italian speaker, you should know that Italians have plenty of ways to thank people.

As, in English, an intense and intended thank you is different from a rushed thanks, in Italian you can say “grazie” in several other ways, to show your kindness and appreciation to the person you are thankful for.

What’s the Italian for thank you? 

Thank you in Italian is simply grazie, but…

How do you say thank you, when you really mean it?

If you are really happy about the service or the favour that you  received you can show appreciation in Italian by using

• Grazie mille or mille grazie– a thousand thank yous
• Grazie tante – many thanks
• Molte grazie – many thanks

If you want to put extra emphasis you can say

• Grazie infinite – countless thank you
• Grazie davvero – thank you indeed

How do you say thank you to someone that has gone above and beyond your expectations? 

• Grazie di tutto – thank you for everything
• Grazie di cuore – thank you from the bottom of my heart

If you want to be more specific and set out the reason you are thanking for, you can add the preposition per + a noun

• Grazie mille per il tuo aiuto – thank you for your help
• Grazie davvero per la tua disponibilità – thank you indeed for your time
• Grazie tante per la tua pazienza – thank you for your patience
• Grazie per il regalo – thank you for for your gift
• Mille grazie per gli auguri – thank you for your birthday wishes

Be aware that all of the first three gratitude phrases above are informal. To make a sentence formal you need to replace tuo/a with suo/a.

You can say thank you for something in Italian, by using a verb, too. How do you do it? You simply follow this structure: grazie per (or di)+ the past infinitive.

• Grazie per (di) avermi aiutato – thank you for helping me
• Grazie per( di) avermi scritto – thank you for writing to me
• Grazie (per) di essere venuto – thank you for coming

How to say thank you with a verb?

There are some verbs and expressions in Italian that express gratitude, like ringraziare, essere grato di and apprezzare.

RINGRAZIARE

Ringraziare is less straightforward than grazie and slightly more formal. It used usually in the shape of

ti – La – vi ringrazio  or  ti -La – vi ringraziamo + PER (or DI) +  a noun or past infinitive

• Ti ringrazio per avermi chiamato – thank you for calling me
• Vi ringrazio di essere venuti – thank you for coming
• La ringrazio per il Suo interesse – thank you for your interest

ESSERE GRATO (o GRATA) DI

Another way to express gratitude in Italian is by using the expression “essere grato or grata di”

We use essere grato (to be grateful or thankfu forl) to show how we feel when someone does us a favour or help us and we are happy about that

• Ti sono molto grato/a per avermi aiutato con il trasloco – Thank you for helping with the move

APPREZZARE

Apprezzare (to appreciate) is used to recognize how good and helpful was someone or something for you.

• Apprezzo molto l’aiuto che Maria mi ha dato quando ero malata – I am really thankful for Maria’s help when I was sick

You might now wonder how to say you’re welcome in Italian. If so, I encourage you to read 7 ways to say welcome in Italian.