How to say “thanks” in 37 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- شكرا/ʃuk.ran/ Arabic
- 謝謝/ɕi̯ɛ⁵¹ ɕi̯ɛ¹/ Chinese
- 고마워[ko̞ma̠wʌ̹] Korean
- धन्यवाद/d̪ʱən.jə.ʋɑːd̪/ Hindi
- მადლობა[mädɫo̞bä] Georgian
- நன்றி/nɐnriː/ Tamil
“thanks” in German: danke · Portuguese: obrigado · Chinese: 謝謝 · Korean: 고마워 · Arabic: شكرا · Hindi: धन्यवाद
It is commonest in Tamil, where நன்றி is the 49th most used word.
Thanks in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans dankie/ˈdaŋki/ #85
- Albanian falë/falə/ thanks to, owing to #776
- Arabic شكرا/ʃuk.ran/ #100
- Armenian շնորհակալություն/ʃ(ə)noɾ(h)ɑkɑluˈtʰjun/ thank you, thanks #293
- Basque esker/es̺ker/ thanks to, owing to #81
- Bosnian zahvaljujući/zaxʋǎʎujuːt͡ɕi/ thanks to #1,540
- Bulgarian благодаря[bɫɐɡodɐˈrʲɤ̟] thanks, thank you #69
- Chinese 謝謝/ɕi̯ɛ⁵¹ ɕi̯ɛ¹/ thanks; thank you #178
- Croatian zahvaljujući/zaxʋǎʎujuːt͡ɕi/ thanks to #1,485
- Czech díky[ˈɟiːkɪ] thanks to #108
- Danish takker[ˈtˢɑɡ̊ɐ] #2,078
- Dutch dank/dɑŋk/ gratitude, thanks #164
- Estonian tänan/ˈtænɑn/ thank you, thanks #101
- Finnish kiitos/ˈkiːtos/ thanks to #47
- Georgian მადლობა[mädɫo̞bä] #147
- German danke[ˈdaŋkə] thanks, gratitude, appreciation #98
- Greek ευχαριστώ/ef.xa.ɾiˈsto/ thank you!, thanks! #75
- Hebrew בזכות/bizˈχut/ thanks to #1,711
- Hindi धन्यवाद/d̪ʱən.jə.ʋɑːd̪/ thanks, thank you #143
- Hungarian kösz[ˈkøsː] #313
- Icelandic takk[ˈtʰahk] thank you, thanks #73
- Indonesian makasih/ma.ka.sɪh/ #1,694
- Korean 고마워[ko̞ma̠wʌ̹] #131
- Macedonian благодарам[bɫaˈɡɔdaɾam] #102
- Persian مرسی[méɹ.siː] #1,109
- Polish dzięki/ˈd͡ʑɛŋ.ki/ thanks to #113
- Portuguese obrigado/o.bɾiˈɡa.du/ thanks; thank you #118
- Romanian mersi[merˈsi] #520
- Russian спасибо[spaˈsʲibə] thank you, thanks #64
- Serbian zahvaljujući/zaxʋǎʎujuːt͡ɕi/ thanks to #1,367
- Slovak ďakujem/ɟakujem/ thanks, thank you #76
- Swedish tack/tak/ thanks, thank you #76
- Tamil நன்றி/nɐnriː/ thanks, thank you #49
- Turkish sayesinde/sa.je.sinˈde/ thanks to, with the help of, because of #1,020
- Ukrainian спасибі[spɐˈsɪbʲi] thank you, thanks #464
- Urdu شکریہ/ʃʊk.ɾɪj.ɑ(ː)/ thanks, thank you #93
- Vietnamese nhờ[ɲəː˨˩] thanks to; owing to #748
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0) and Vietnamese (vais1000 (vi_VN), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.