How do you say thank you and you're welcome in Spanish? Even most non-Spanish speakers know that gracias is the common, standard way to say "thank you" in Spanish, while the most common response is de nada (you're welcome). Today's lesson will help you spice up your spoken Spanish by learning some additional ways to say thank you and you're welcome in Spanish. 

How Do You Say Thank You in Spanish?

Before going any further, let's hear the Spanish word gracias pronounced, paying particular attention to the way that Spanish speakers pronounce the vowels (it should not sound like "grassy a--"). Then, we suggest you practice it yourself!

Gracias.

Thank you.

Caption 39, Cristina Primeros auxilios

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Note that if you want to say what you are thanking someone "for" in Spanish, you should use the Spanish preposition por (rather than para) as we see here:

Así que gracias por su atención

So, thank you for your attention,

Caption 68, Carlos comenta La sucursal del cielo - Part 1

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This brings us to another common Spanish expression, which is equivalent to the English "Thanks for everything":

Gracias por todo.

Thank you for everything.

Caption 86, Tu Música El Ensamble Latino - Part 3

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Thank You Very Much in Spanish

Now, let's hear a common way to say "Thank you very much" in Spanish:

Muchas gracias.

Thank you very much.

Caption 96, Casabermeja Gastronomía - Part 2

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If you wish to say "Thank you very much" in Spanish even more emphatically, you might choose the following expression, which includes the augmentative form of muchas, muchísimas:

Muchísimas gracias

Thank you very much

Caption 63, Venezolanos por el mundo Karina en Barcelona - Part 3

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Yet another rough equivalent of "thank you very much" or "thanks so much" is the common Spanish expression mil gracias, which literally means "a thousand thanks":

Mm... no, no, mil gracias. No me gusta el café.

Um... No, no, thanks so much [literally "a thousand thanks"]. I don't like coffee.

Caption 3, Tu Voz Estéreo Embalsamado - Part 8

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Thankful Verbs

In addition to the expressions we just learned, certain verbs or verb phrases can be used to convey gratitude. Below, you'll find several, with examples from our Yabla Spanish library.

Agradecer (to thank/be grateful)

Así que, te agradezco, Fredy,

So, I thank you, Fredy,

Caption 49, Viajando con Carlos El año viejo en Colombia - Part 2

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The direct object pronoun lo is often included in the fixed expression te lo agradezco (I appreciate it, I thank you for it, I'm grateful to you for it) when referring to a specific thing or situation:

Y te lo agradezco, pero la verdad,

And I thank you for it, but honestly,

Caption 17, Los Años Maravillosos Capítulo 8 - Part 8

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Dar las gracias (to thank/give thanks)

Te vengo a dar las gracias.

I'm coming to thank you.

Caption 7, Club 10 Capítulo 2 - Part 7

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Apreciar  (to appreciate)

Bueno... pues le aprecio mucho gobernador que me haya contestado.

Well... I really appreciate you, Governor, for answering me.

Caption 17, ¡Tierra, Sí! Atenco - Part 1

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Estar agradecido (to be grateful)

estoy contenta, estoy agradecida,

I'm happy, I'm grateful,

Caption 64, Amaya Recordando - Part 1

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How to Say Thank You in Formal Spanish

If you wish to say thank you in a more formal setting, you could choose to address the person you are thanking with usted instead of tú or vos, the more formal of the different Spanish ways to say "you." The expression te lo agradezco would hence change as follows:

Bueno, se lo agradezco.

Well, I thank you for it.

Caption 84, Muñeca Brava 48 - Soluciones - Part 3

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The abbreviated Muy agradecido can also function as an alternative to "Thank you very much" in more formal settings:

Muy agradecido, Don Kevin.

Very grateful, Mister Kevin.

Caption 34, Los Años Maravillosos Capítulo 3 - Part 7

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Finally, the expression Muy amable (literally "very kind") is often used in place of or along with another way of saying "thank you," as we see in the following two captions: 

Eh... Sí, señorita, ya voy para allá. Muy amable.

Um... Yes, miss, I'm going there now. [You're] very kind.

Captions 44-45, Tu Voz Estéreo Laura - Part 15

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Bueno, muchas gracias. Muy amable.

Well, thank you very much. [You're] very kind.

Caption 19, Confidencial: Broma pesada Capítulo 4 - Part 10

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How Do You Say You're Welcome in Spanish?

As we mentioned in the introduction, de nada (literally "of nothing") is the standard equivalent of "you're welcome" in Spanish. Let's hear it a caption that includes both thank you and you're welcome in Spanish: 

¡Ay, muchísimas gracias por tu amabilidad! ¡De nada!

Oh, thank you so much for your kindness! You're welcome!

Captions 37-38, Cleer y Carolina En la estación de buses

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Note that an alternative, albeit less common way to say de nada is por nada.

Alternative Ways to Say "You're Welcome" in Spanish

Let's explore a few different ways to say something similar to "you're welcome" in Spanish, starting with one that literally means something along the lines of "There's no reason (to thank me)."

Yo también. Muchas gracias por admitirme. No hay de qué. Es un placer tenerla con nosotros.

Me too. Thank you very much for accepting me. You're welcome. It's a pleasure to have you with us.

Captions 10-11, Negocios Empezar en un nuevo trabajo - Part 2

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Like in English, "My pleasure" is also a suitable response to someone thanking you, as is simply (it's) "a pleasure":

El placer es mío, Adolfo.

The pleasure is mine, Adolfo.

Caption 39, Yago 6 Mentiras - Part 4

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Gracias por venir, Luis. Un placer, Mónica,

Thank you for coming, Luis. A pleasure, Monica,

Captions 2-3, Escribiendo un libro Algunos consejos sobre cómo comenzar - Part 1

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And, finally, as in English, we could thank the person right back!

Muchas gracias. Gracias a ti.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Captions 50-51, El Aula Azul Los profesores de la escuela - Part 1

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With this in mind, we hope that this lesson has given you a lot of ideas about ways to say thank you and you're welcome in Spanish, beyond just gracias and de nada. Muchísimas gracias por su atención... and don't forget to write us with your questions and comments.

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What are grammatical "moods"? Many definitions of grammatical moods in linguistics explain them as features of verbs that describe "modality." But, what is "modality"?

In a nutshell, "modality" refers to a speaker's attitude toward what he or she is saying, which might entail such concepts as possibility, probability, certainty or doubt. "Moods" are not the same as tenses, which convey when things happen, and each of the sixteen Spanish tenses fall into one of the three mood categories. That said, let's delve deeper into the three grammatical moods in Spanish: the indicative, the subjunctive, and the imperative.

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1. The Indicative Mood

Most simply put, the indicative mood describes facts, things about which the speaker is certain, or "the objective truth." Let's take a look at some examples of sentences with verbs in the indicative mood. 

Estoy seguro que voy a poder ayudarla en algo.

I'm sure that I am going to be able to help you with something.

Caption 7, Yago 9 Recuperación - Part 7

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This speaker says in the Spanish present indicative tense that he's seguro (sure) that he will be able to help the person to whom he's speaking. Such phrases referring to certainty like Estoy seguro que (I'm sure that) or even Yo creo que (I believe that) are tip-offs that the verb(s) that follow(s) will be in the indicative because they indicate conviction. However, many examples of verbs in the indicative mood in Spanish won't be quite so straightforward. 

Hablaremos sobre el candombe.

We'll talk about candombe.

Caption 11, Sonido Babel El candombe de Uruguay

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In this example of the future indicative tense in Spanish, the speaker states (with certainty) what it is he will talk about. Let's take a look at an additional example. 

¡Sí! Fuimos a buscar conchas pero no fue fácil encontrarlas.

Yes! We went to look for shells but it wasn't easy to find them.

Caption 13, Guillermina y Candelario El Manglar

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In this final example in the Spanish preterite tense, the speaker clearly states the objective truth about what happened in the past: Fuimos a buscar (We went to look for) seashells, and no fue (it wasn't) easy. Although whether or not something is easy is a subjective concept, it is important to remember that it is the speaker's attitude or belief about what he or she is stating that determines the mood. 

There are ten verb tenses in the Spanish indicative mood: the present, the imperfect, the preterite, the future, the simple conditional, the present perfect, the pluperfect, the past anterior, the conditional perfect, and the future perfect. For a closer look at each of these tenses with examples, we recommend this lesson on the Spanish indicative tenses. 

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2. The Subjunctive Mood

While the indicative conveys certainty and objectivity, the subjunctive conveys such opposing concepts as subjectivity, doubt, wishful thinking, hypothetical situations, and more. Let's take a look at some examples:

No, no, no. No creo que sea muy peligroso

No, no, no. I don't think he's very dangerous,

Caption 55, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 5 - Part 8

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Just like the expression Creo que (I believe that) lets you know that the following verb will be conjugated in the indicative, the phrase No creo que (I don't believe that) is an indicator for the subjunctive. Although we won't enter into verb conjugation in this lesson, we will say that verbs in the subjunctive mood are conjugated differently than in the indicative: for example, sea is the subjunctive conjugation of ser (to be) in third person singular and is thus used in place of the indicative form es. Let's take a look at another example:

de verdad, esperamos que te hayamos podido devolver la alegría.

we really hope that we've been able to give you back your joy.

Caption 58, Tu Voz Estéreo Laura - Part 17

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Here, the indicative present perfect form hemos podido (we've been able) has been replaced with the subjunctive present perfect, hayamos podido, because the speaker is expressing a hope that something has happened rather than stating that it actually has. Let's look at another example of the subjunctive mood in Spanish:

Si yo fuera un hombre, yo pensaría que las mujeres son complicadas.

If I were a man, I would think that women are complicated.

Caption 28, Conjugación El verbo 'pensar'

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This sentence employs a common construction that combines the imperfect subjunctive with the Spanish conditional tense to talk about what "would" happen "were" a hypothetical situation in place. 

Learning all of the situations and/or constructions that require the subjunctive mood in Spanish can be quite challenging for native English speakers since verbs in the subjunctive mood in English rarely change. As a guideline, statements in which the second verb in a construction changes to the subjunctive include wishes like deseo que (I wish that...), emotions like me alegro de que (I'm happy that...), impersonal expressions like es importante que (it's important that...), recommendations like sugiero que (I suggest that...), and doubts like dudo que (I doubt that...), just to name a few. 

The Spanish subjunctive mood encompasses six tenses: the present subjunctive, the imperfect subjunctive, the future subjunctive, the present perfect subjunctive, the pluperfect subjunctive, and the future perfect subjunctive, which are explained in greater detail in this lesson on the subjunctive tenses in Spanish that also touches on our third and final Spanish mood. 

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3. The Imperative Mood 

Understanding the speaker's "attitude" in the imperative mood is less nuanced: one is "ordering" or "commanding" someone else to do something:

¡Hazlo todo de nuevo!

Do it all over again!

Caption 32, Los Años Maravillosos Capítulo 3 - Part 7

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This is an example of a positive, informal command (with tú, or the singular, informal "you") in Spanish. Let's see another example:

Chicos, no me hagan esta broma tan pesada. 

Guys, don't play this very annoying joke on me.

Caption 49, Club 10 Capítulo 1 - Part 1

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Here, we see the negative command that corresponds to the pronoun ustedes (plural "you"). Let's check out one more:

We hope that this lesson has shed some light on the concept of the three grammatical "moods" in Spanish and would like to conclude it with an imperative sentence: No te olvides de dejarnos tus sugerencias y comentarios (Don't forget to leave us your suggestions and comments).

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