9 ways to say thank you in British and American English

48,129 views ・ 2019-01-04

Simple English Videos


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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We have some very exciting news!
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We have a hundred thousand subscribers!
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What a wonderful way to start the new year!
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It’s so exciting and we want to say a big thank you to you all!
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Or a hundred thousand thank yous to be precise!
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Well, there are a lot of ways to say thank you.
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In fact, that’s what this video is about.
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We’re looking at things we say to thank people today.
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And also how to respond to thank you, because that can be tricky too.
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Where shall we start?
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Let’s have a story.
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Hey, it’s looking good in here.
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Yes, I’ve been getting the room ready for Kathy’s seminar.
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You got all the chairs out.
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Yes, I had to find eighteen of them.
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And what’s this?
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Slides?
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Yeah, I made a PowerPoint presentation for Kathy.
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You’ve been working very hard.
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Yep.
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You must be tired.
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Have you had lunch yet?
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No, I’ve got to tell Kathy the room’s ready.
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I can do that for you.
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Why don’t you go and take a break?
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You deserve it.
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Well, thank you very much.
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That’s very nice of you.
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You’re welcome.
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We saw a very common way to thank someone there.
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What’s that?
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We say the person is nice.
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Well, thank you very much.
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That’s very nice of you.
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You’re welcome.
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I expect you say something similar to this in your language too.
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All over the world we thank people in similar ways.
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We’ll use different phrases in different languages, but the ideas behind the phrases
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are often the same.
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This idea is saying someone is nice.
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Or kind or thoughtful or good.
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Yes.
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That’s very nice of you.
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That’s very kind of you.
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That’s very good of you.
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That’s very thoughtful of you.
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I was very thoughtful to you in that story because I was caring for you.
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Ah, but the story didn’t end there.
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How did Kathy’s presentation go?
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Oh very well.
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How was your lunch?
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Great Hi!
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Oh Kathy, how did you like the PowerPoint slides?
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They were excellent.
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Oh good.
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Thanks for making them, Vicki.
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I’m so glad you liked them.
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And thanks for getting the room ready.
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It was great.
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My pleasure.
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It’s nice to work with someone who’s so helpful and supportive.
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I really appreciate it.
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But I made the PowerPoint slides and I got the room ready.
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Yeah, thanks for doing that.
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You were mean to me again!
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Things aren’t going to change just because we have a hundred thousand subscribers.
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I was afraid of that.
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OK.
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Notice Kathy said ‘I really appreciate it’.
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If you appreciate someone or something, you’re grateful.
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We can also say ‘I’m grateful’, but grateful is a more formal word.
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You might hear it in a formal speech.
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Or you might see it in writing, like in an email.
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But it’s less common in spoken English.
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Also did you notice this structure?
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Kathy said it several times.
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Thanks for making them Vicki.
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I’m so glad you liked them.
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And thanks for getting the room ready.
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It was great.
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So after ‘thanks for’ we use a gerund.
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A gerund is a noun form of a verb.
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Just add -ing to the verb to form the gerund.
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It’s a very common structure.
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Thank you for helping me.
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Thank you for listening Thanks for watching our videos
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And thanks for subscribing.
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Now is there a difference between ‘thanks’ and ‘thank you’?
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They mean the same thing.
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Thanks is a little more informal.
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We often say thanks for small things.
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Like if you give me a dollar, I’ll say ‘thanks’, but if you give me 500 dollars, I’ll say
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‘thank you very much’.
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In British English we also say ‘cheers’ and it means the same as ‘thanks’.
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It’s informal and it’s for small things.
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We say cheers when we’re drinking and making a toast in American English.
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We do that in British English too, but cheers can also mean ‘thanks’ for us.
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And we can also say ‘ta’.
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Ta?
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Yes.
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Sometimes when parents are teaching their children to say thank you, they’ll teach
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them to say ta instead.
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Perhaps because it’s easier to say.
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Ta.
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Ta.
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Ta.
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Ta.
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Ta?
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OK, let’s look at another situation.
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Happy birthday, Jay.
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Oh, thank you.
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Oh, it’s a bow tie.
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Oh, thank you!
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I love it.
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Oh I’m so glad you like it.
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You didn’t like it?
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No!
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But you did two things there that we often do.
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First you said ‘Oh’, so you expressed surprise and happiness.
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And then you said you loved it.
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It was a great tie!
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So if you receive a gift, you can say things like this.
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Oh!
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I love it!
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Oh wow!
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It’s perfect!
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Oh my!
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It’s beautiful.
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It’s just what I wanted.
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It’s exactly what I wanted.
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Let’s look at another one.
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Happy birthday!
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Yes, Happy Birthday!
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Thank you.
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And presents!
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You didn’t have to get me presents!
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You know, you’re right.
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That’s how NOT to give someone a present.
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But did you notice what Kathy said?
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She said ‘You didn’t have to’.
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So she’s saying that it wasn’t necessary to get her presents.
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The idea is you didn’t have to do it, but you did it anyway, so you’re very generous.
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Generous means you give gifts to help people, or to give them pleasure.
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If you say someone’s generous it’ a compliment.
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And there’s another thing we say that’s similar.
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‘You shouldn’t have’.
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Oh wow!
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You’ve made some soup.
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Yes.
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You shouldn’t have gone to all this trouble for me.
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Oh and some wine too.
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Are you having anything?
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Often when we use ‘shouldn’t have’ it’s because we’re annoyed or angry.
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Yes, like, ‘You shouldn’t have parked there.
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That’s my spot!’
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‘You shouldn’t have eaten the cookies.
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They were mine’.
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But that’s not what I meant there.
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You shouldn’t have gone to all this trouble for me.
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The idea here is you’re saying I was too generous again.
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Yes, it means it wasn’t necessary to do all that work, but you did and I’m grateful.
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The soup was terrific, by the way.
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You’ve bought me a present?
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You shouldn’t have.
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You’ve made me a cake?
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You shouldn’t have.
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So you can just say the phrase ‘You shouldn’t have’.
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You don’t need to complete the sentence.
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There’s another thing that can happen when we thank people.
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What’s that?
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We offer to repay them somehow.
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So what would you like to drink?
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No, no.
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I’ll get them.
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No, let me.
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OK, thanks.
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I’ll have a gin and tonic.
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I’ll get the next one.
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OK.
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So this means I’ll buy the next drinks.
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Good.
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You’re offering to repay me.
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Yes, the idea here is to pay people back.
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Thanks so much for the loan.
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I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.
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Thanks for the ride home.
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Anytime you need a ride, just ask me.
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Thanks for your help.
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I owe you one.
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‘I owe you one’.
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That’s an interesting phrase.
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Yes.
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The word ‘one’ here means a favour – so something you do to help someone.
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When we do people favours, we help them out.
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Help them out – that’s a useful phrase.
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Oh damn!
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What?
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I can’t remember where I saved this document.
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Click ‘file’ and ‘save as’ and it’ll show you.
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Oh thank you.
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You really helped me out a lot.
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This was an important document.
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What is it?
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It’s a recipe for baked peanut butter and popcorn.
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Urgh!
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‘To help someone out’ is a phrasal verb.
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Its meaning is very similar ‘to help’.
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We can use it when someone is in trouble or in a difficult situation and we help them
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get out of it.
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Thank you!
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You really helped me out Now there’s another way we thank people
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that I think happens in some languages but not others.
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Let’s see an example.
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Oh, can I give you a hand with that?
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Thank you.
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You’re a star.
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Sure.
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Where would you like it?
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Over there So I said you’re a star here.
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Like a movie star?
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Yes.
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I mean you’re not really a star, but I was pretending you are.
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So we say things that aren’t true.
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We exaggerate.
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OK.
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Oh, are you going to the bank?
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Yeah, and it’s pouring with rain.
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I’ll give you a lift.
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Oh thank you.
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You’re a life saver!
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My pleasure.
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You exaggerated again.
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You called me a life saver.
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Yes, he didn’t really save my life.
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He just stopped me from getting wet.
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But these are friendly ways to say thank you English.
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Someone will do us a small favour and we’ll exaggerate and say they’re a hero.
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Thank you.
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You’re my hero!
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Thanks so much!
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You’re awesome!
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Thanks!
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You’re the best Do you say things like this in your language?
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I know it happens in some languages, but I’m not sure if it happens in all languages.
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Well let’s see.
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Do you exaggerate like this when you’re saying thank you?
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Write and tell us in the comments.
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OK, before we stop, we should look at some different ways to respond if someone says
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thank you to you.
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We’ve seen some examples in this video.
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Thank you.
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You’re a life saver!
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My pleasure.
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My pleasure.
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So I was saying I was happy to help.
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Yes.
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The idea here is you did it gladly.
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My pleasure Glad to help.
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Anytime!
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You’re welcome.
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And another thing we sometimes do is say that thanks aren’t necessary.
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I got you some water.
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Oh thank you very much.
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It was no trouble.
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It was no trouble.
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It was nothing.
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Don’t mention it!
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Don’t worry about it.
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No worries.
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Not at all!
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So if you say thank you and I say ‘not at all’ I mean ‘don’t thank me’.
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So the idea here is that the thanks are unnecessary.
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And that’s it!
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Now you know lots of different ways to thank people in English.
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And we have some important thank you’s to say now.
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Oh yes.
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We want to say thanks to all of you for watching our videos.
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We’re thrilled to have hit the 100,000 milestone.
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We really appreciate all your views and comments and subs.
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Yes, cheers everyone.
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And many thanks to all the people who have made suggestions and translated transcripts
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for us.
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You’re the best.
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Our heroes.
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You didn’t have to watch and subscribe but we’re really glad you did.
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Bye now.
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Bye-bye.
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