As a traveller, one of the main reasons we love to get out there and visit far off places, is to indulge our desire to experience cultures. And not speaking the language, or generally having a clue what’s going on, is all part of the fun!
‘Thank you’ is one of the most uttered phrases in any language, and of course you’re going to need to say it while you’re away too – just as much as you would back at home. Yes, you could just mutter it in English but wouldn’t it be great if you could loudly and proudly converse, even just a little bit, with the locals? They’d definitely appreciate it that’s for sure.
To make that a bit easier, I’ve spent the past 6 hours on Google compiling this list of ways to say ‘thank you’ in 44 languages. Take a look, soak it up, and then take to the comments box below to share any useful phrases of your own with would be travellers.
Mandarin
China, Malaysia Singapore, Taiwan
Xie xie (pronounced ‘shay shay’)
Spanish
Spain, South and Central America except Brazil
Gracias (as a general rule, it’s pronounced ‘gra-thee-ass’ in Spain and ‘gra-see-ass’ in South America)
Hindi
India
Shukria (pronunced suk-ri-yaa)
or dhanyawaad (pronounced ‘dhuhn-Ya-Vaad’)
Arabic
North Africa, Middle East
Shukran (pronounced ‘shook-ran’)
Portuguese
Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique
Obrigado (pronounced ‘ob-ree-gado’)
Bengali
Banglasdesh, India
Tōmākē dhan’yabāda (pronounced ‘dhon-no-baad’)
Russian
Russia, Israel, Mongolia
Spasiba (pronounced ‘spa-see-ba’)
Japanese
Japan
Arigatō (pronounced ‘ah-ree-gah-toe’)
Fijian
Fiji
Vinaka (pronounced ‘vin-a-ka’)
German
Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium
Danke (pronounced ‘dank-uh’)
Malay/Indonesian
Malaysia, Indonesia
Terima kasih (pronounced ‘tuh-ree-mah kah-see’)
Vietnamese
Vietnam
Cảm on (pronounced ‘gahm-uhn’)
Korean
North and South Korea
Komapsumnida (pronounced ‘gam-sa-hap-ni-da’)
French
France, Belgium, Canada, parts of Africa
Merci (pronounced ‘mair-see’)
Marathi
India
Dhanyawaad (pronounced ‘dhuhn-Ya-vaad’)
Tamil
India, Singapore, Malaysia Mautitius
Nandri (pronounced ‘nan-dri’)
Urdu
Pakistan, India
Shukria (pronounced ‘suk-ri-yaa’)
Turkish
Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria
Teşekkürler (pronounced ‘te-shek-kewr-lehr’)
Italian
Italy, Switzerland
Grazie (pronounced ‘gra-ziee’)
Cantonese
Hong Kong, China
M̀h’gōi (use this for when someone does something for you i.e when a waiter puts down your food. Pronounced ‘m-goi’)
Dōjeh (use this for when someone gives you something i.e a gift, or a lift somewhere. Pronounced ‘do-ze’)
Thai
Thailand
Khob-kun-Ka If you are a woman (pronounced kob-koon-ka)
Khob-kun-Krub If you are a man (pronounced kob-koon-kab)
Armenian
Armenia, Russia, Middle East
Shnorhakalut’yun (pronounced ‘shuh-nor-ha-ga-lu-tune’)
Gugarati
India, Bangladesh
Dhanyawaad (pronounced ‘dhuhn-ya-vaad’) or aabhar
Albanian
Albania
Falemnderit (pronounced ‘fah-lehm-meen-deh-reet’)
Polish
Poland
Dziękuję (pronounced ‘jen-ku-je’)
Burmese
Burma/Myanmar
Chezu tinbade (pronounced ‘chei-zu tin-bar-te’)
Romanian
Romania, Moldova
Mulţumesc (pronounced ‘mult-zoo-mesc’)
Kurdish
Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria
Sipas (pronounced ‘si-pas’)
Azerbaijani
Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran
Sag olun (pronounced ‘sa-olun’)
Visayan/Cebuano
Philippines
Salamat (pronounced ‘sal-amat’)
Dutch
Netherlands, Belgium
Dank je (pronounced ‘dahnk yuh’)
Serbo-Croatian
Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia
Hvala (pronounced ‘hvah-lah’)
Nepali
Nepal
Dhanyabaad (pronounced ‘dhan-naii-bat’)
Khmer
Cambodia
Ar kun (pronounced ‘aw-kunh’)
Somali
Somalia
Mahad sanid (pronounced ‘me-had sen-eed’)
Hungarian
Hungary
Köszönöm (pronounced ‘khoe-se-noem’)
Greek
Greece, Cyprus
Efcharisto (pronounced ‘ef-κha-ree-sto’)
Chichewa/Chewa
Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia
Zikomo (pronounced ‘zee-ko-mo’)
Hebrew
Israel
Toda (pronounced ‘toe-dah’)
Czech
Czech Rebublic
Děkuji (pronounced ‘dye-koo-yi’)
Zulu
South Africa
Ngiyabonga (pronounced ‘gi-ya-bong-ga’)
Hawaiian
Hawaii
Mahalo (pronounced ‘ma-ha-lo’)
Swedish
Sweden, Finland
Tack (pronounced ‘tack’)
Lao
Laos
Khawp jai (pronounced ‘kah-awb jai’)
‘Gràcies’, would be in Catalan. Pronouced as: /gra-see-eh-s/ (the last “eh”, like something between /ah/ and /eh/).
In some parts of northern Catalonia, they use the French ‘Merci’.
Also, I don’t speak Portuguese but I know for sure that ‘obrigado’ is only if you are a man. If you are a woman, you say ‘obrigada’.
I hope it helps!
It certainly does help Curri. Thank you for setting the record straight, have a great day!
Nice, I do speak Portuguese and you are right “obrigado” is for man, but women also say “obrigada and obrigado”.
Greetings from Baltic countries!
“Paldies” in Latvian
“Ačiū” in Lithuanian
“Aitäh” in Estonian
Greetings Liene, Paldies for sharing!
The Zulu pronunciation isn’t quite right above, it’s ni(knee)-ya-bonga, the the first g is silent
Thanks for clarifying Peter
The serbo-croatian thank you ‘Hvala’ is also what is said in Slovenia for thank you.
Thanks for the tip Hannah!
“Eskerrik asko” in Basque. Not sure about the phonetic transcription but…close to /es-’ke-reek/ /’as-koh/
There are 2 different ways to say ‘thank you’ in korean
Kamsahapnida (감사합니다) and
Komapsumnida (고맙습니다).