The simplest form, grazie(thank you) can be used in everyday interactions.
When the barista gives you the espresso you ordered, you’ll say grazie.
After you’ve finished your espresso, you might say this as you leave the café:
Grazie, buona giornata. (Thank you, have a good day.)
An important note about the pronunciation of grazie: the e is essential. Leaving the “e” off is a common mistake that can quickly become a bad habit, so be careful!
And, regardless of the region or dialect, the basic word for “thank you” in Italian is always grazie. Don’t confuse it with the singular form grazia (grace), which is never used to express gratitude!
Grazie mille(thanks a million) adds more flourish to your expression of gratitude. If a friend has given you half of her sandwich because you forgot your lunch, you’ll want to say:
Grazie mille, stavo morendo di fame! (Thanks a million, I was starving!)
It’s also easy to use grazie mille sarcastically. Perhaps your spouse has just given you a stack of bills that need to be paid. Now’s the time to roll your eyes and sigh, Grazie mille.
When earnest and heartfelt, tante grazieis really no different than molte grazie.
But be careful: If said in the wrong tone, or especially if the words are switched around to grazie tante, it comes across as sarcastic. It’s like saying “thanks for nothing.”
For example, if a colleague has withheld information about an important meeting, now’s the time to say:
Grazie tante per la tua schiettezza! (Thank you so much for your forthrightness!)
If you want to thank someone for something specific, you’ll begin with grazie per and complete the phrase with a noun.
Perhaps you have an amazing colleague who covered for you when you arrived an hour late to work.
Grazie per la tua discrezione. (Thank you for your discretion.)
You can also use grazie per with a verb. Imagine your friend comes to visit you. She even cooks for you! To really thank her you can say:
Grazie per aver cucinato per me! (Thank you for cooking for me!)
Grazie per essere la mia migliore amica! (Thank you for being my best friend!)
Similarly, you can use grazie di before a verb. If you wish to continue thanking your amazing colleague or friend, you can say:
Grazie di avermi aiutato. (Thank you for helping me.)
On the other hand, if you’re feeling a bit sarcastic and want to say “thanks for nothing,” you can use grazie di niente!
Maybe the repairman that was supposed to fix your refrigerator just ended up breaking the freezer too. In your (understandable) frustration, you might say to him, Grazie di niente! (Thanks for nothing!)
The verb “to thank” in Italian is ringraziare. This verb is used when thanking someone in a more formal situation.
You can use ti ringrazio when you’re especially grateful for something done by someone you’re close with. Maybe your brother donated his kidney to you! This would be the time to say:
Ti ringrazio dal profondo del mio cuore per il rene! (I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the kidney!)
And, like our #5 phrase, ti ringrazio is also a polite way to decline something offered to you.
On occasion, you may wish to formally thank a large group of people. Maybe you’ve just won an award. You’d say:
Vi ringrazio per questo onore! (I thank you for this honor!)
Or perhaps you’ve been nominated for class president. This would be a perfect opportunity to say:
Vi ringrazio per questa opportunità! (I thank you for this opportunity!)
As you can see, there are many different ways to say grazie in Italian—all of which depend on the context.
A good way of becoming familiar with these phrases is to consume native media, so you can see how they’re actually used. There are plenty of videos on YouTube, or else for a little extra learning support you could try a language learning program like FluentU.
FluentU has a ton of interesting, authentic videos in their curated library which cover topics like music videos, vlogs and inspiring talks. Each video comes with interactive subtitles which you just need to hover over to see definitions, pronunciation details and other important information.
By seeing how words and phrases are used by native speakers in different contexts, you’ll pick up on different shades of meaning—and ultimately develop more natural-sounding Italian.
Plus, the program is available on iOS and Android so you can study wherever you go.
More Ways To Express Thanks in Italian
Apart from the standard phrases and situations of showing gratitude that we have covered already, here is a list of ways to express your thanks that don’t specifically include grazie (thanks) or ringraziare (the verb meaning “to thank”).
This depends on what you want to say, as they have completely different meanings!
Grazie is the proper term used to express thanks, for whatever situation—regardless of masculine or feminine forms.
Grazia, however, translates to “grace” and is more commonly found as a woman’s name.
What is the Italian word for thanks?
As we’ve seen in this post, there are lots of words for thanks.
But when in doubt, give your thanks in Italian with grazie! It’s straightforward and the popular go-to for expressing gratitude.
Is it molto grazie or molte grazie?
To say “thank you very much” in Italian, you would say molte grazie.
As we mentioned earlier in the post, molto on its own is just an adjective that means “much,” “very” and “many.” But, as the rules of Italian dictate, adjectives agree on gender (and quantity).
This means that when molto is used with grazie, it becomes molte grazie!
In any country and in any language, learning to express gratitude is essential.
Kindness, politeness and gratitude go a long way anywhere in the world.
Thank you for reading this post on how to say thank you in Italian—now go out there and be kind to one another!
kristinmelia
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