Thank you in Spanish: 13 Alternatives to ¡Gracias!

Even people who don’t speak the language likely know that gracias is Spanish for thank you. If you’re studying the language though, you’re probably interested in knowing a few alternatives for expressing gratitude in Spanish. Well you’ve come to the right place!

In this post we’ll cover a wide variety of options for expressing thank you in Spanish, going over the rich nuances of each expression. We’ll also go over some of the grammar behind gracias so you can master its use in a heartbeat. Finally, we’ll introduce several other verbs you can use to thank people correctly and politely.

Let’s get going!

Gracias: The classic Thank you in Spanish

This is the most common and straightforward way to say thank you or thanks in Spanish, and it fits well in both formal and informal contexts. Gracias is a feminine noun, and it’s always in plural when used to express thanks.

• I bought the things you asked for. / Thanks. – Compré las cosas que me pediste. / Gracias.

• Good afternoon. Here’s your coffee. / Thank you. – Buenas tardes. Aquí está su café. / Gracias.

The singular “gracia” isn’t used to express thanks in English, but rather translates as “grace.” “Gracia” can also be used with the verb “hacer” to indicate that something seems funny with the phrase “hacer gracia.”

The adjective “gracioso” also comes from “gracia.” In most cases “gracioso” is also used to mean “funny,” though it also means “gracious” in Spanish.

Gracias por todo, Gracias por…

Gracias por todo means thanks for everything or thank you for everything in Spanish, and it’s a good option for when there are many things you want to thank for without mentioning something specific.

You can also modify the gracias por… phrase depending on what you want to express thanks for. This way you just drop the “todo” and add a different direct object such as time, patience, kindness, etc. You can even give it a sarcastic twist and say gracias por nada which is thanks for nothing in Spanish.

• This day has been wonderful! Thanks for everything. – ¡Este día ha sido maravilloso! ¡Gracias por todo!

• Thank you for your time and patience, Monica. You’re the best! – Gracias por tu tiempo y paciencia, Mónica. ¡Eres la mejor!

• Thank you for your kindness, young man! – ¡Gracias por su amabilidad, joven!

• Thank you for your help, brother. – Gracias por tu ayuda, hermano.

• You didn’t finish your part of the project on time? Well, thanks for nothing! What are we supposed to do now? – ¿No terminaste tu parte del proyecto a tiempo? Bueno, ¡gracias por nada! ¿Qué vamos a hacer ahora?

Muchas gracias

You can use this expression if you need to put more enthusiasm into your gratitude. Although the literal translation would be much thanks or many thanks, muchas gracias is best interpreted as thank you very much or thank you so much in Spanish. If you want to be even more effusive, you can go for the superlative and say muchísimas gracias.

A common mistake is to say “muchos” gracias rather than “muchas” gracias. Since gracias is a feminine noun, as we saw above, the adjective must also be feminine. “Muchos gracias” with an “o” is incorrect.

• Thank you very much for helping me! – ¡Muchas gracias por venir a ayudarme!

• A surprise party? Thank you so much! – ¿Una fiesta sorpresa? ¡Muchísimas gracias!

Mil Gracias, Un Millón de Gracias

Another way to say thank you in Spanish is with the phrases mil gracias or un millón de gracias. Although Spanish allows you to quantify the gracias you give with numbers, these phrases only sound natural when used with these specific amounts.

Mil gracias literally means a thousand thanks in Spanish, and un millón de gracias is a million thanks or thanks a million. Both work very well in both formal and informal contexts, and it’s quite common to hear them, especially in more informal contexts.

• Thanks a million for the driving lessons, Dad. – Un millón de gracias por las lecciones de manejo, Papá.

Gracias de todo corazón

This is a heartwarming option to convey gratitude and appreciation in Spanish. It means thank you with all my heart, and although it is not very formal, it can be used when a simple “thank you” is not enough.

• Thank you with all my heart for being with me during this difficult time. – Gracias de todo corazón por estar conmigo en estos momentos tan difíciles.

Gracias de antemano

Gracias de antemano is the equivalent of thank you in advance in Spanish and it is quite useful when it comes to making requests, especially in written communication such as letters or e-mails.

• You are notified to attend an emergency meeting at 3pm. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. – Se les notifica que deben acudir a una reunión de emergencia a las 3 p.m. Gracias de antemano por su colaboración.

Gracias de todos modos, Gracias de todas formas

Sometimes things don’t go exactly the way we want them to, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be thankful. These phrases, meaning thank you anyway or thanks anyway in Spanish, are the ideal choices for such cases.

• Can you join me for grocery shopping later? / I don’t have time today, I’m so sorry / It’s okay. Thanks anyway. – ¿Puedes acompañarme a hacer las compras más tarde? / Hoy no tengo tiempo, lo siento mucho. / No pasa nada. Gracias de todos modos.

No, gracias

Knowing how to say no, thank you in Spanish comes in handy when we want to decline something without being rude. If you want to seem nicer, you can even say no, muchas gracias to make your negative a bit less harsh.

• Would you like some coffee / No, thank you very much. – ¿Quieres un poco de café? / No, muchas gracias.

• Do you want to go to the park later? / No, thank you. I have to study for tomorrow’s exam. – ¿Vamos al parque más tarde? / No, gracias. Debo estudiar para el examen de mañana.

Se agradece

This is an impersonal form of expressing thanks and is used in formal contexts. The equivalent of se agradece in English is it’s appreciated. It’s usually used to address a group rather than a specific individual.

• Your cooperation in keeping the laboratory clean is appreciated. – Se agradece su colaboración para mantener limpio el laboratorio.

• Donations for the next meeting are appreciated. – Se agradecen los donativos para el próximo encuentro.

Gracias a ti, Gracias a usted

This nice phrase is usually used when someone thanks you for something and you want to thank them back or make it clear that you are the one who should be grateful. The literal meaning is thanks to you in Spanish, though the better equivalent in English is just to say thank *you* with an emphasis on the you.

As you can see, depending on whether you use the pronoun ti or usted, it works perfectly in both informal and formal contexts.

• Thank you for joining me. / No, thank you for inviting me! – Gracias por acompañarme. / ¡No, gracias a ti por invitarme!

• Thank you for responding so quickly, Ms. Ana. / Thank you for informing me about the problem. – Gracias por responder tan rápido, señora Ana. / Gracias a usted por informarme acerca del problema.

Muy amable de tu parte, Muy amable de su parte

Continuing with another very formal option, this phrase means that’s very kind of you or that’s very nice of you in Spanish. As with the expression we saw above, the degree of formality depends on whether the tú or usted version of the possessive is used. In this case, su is the possessive adjective used for usted, so it’s more formal. It’s often simply shortened to muy amable, which in English means very kind [of you].

Furthermore, this expression is often used more as a complement than as a stand-alone expression, accompanying gracias or one of its variants.

• Here is your dessert, along with a coffee on the house. / Thank you very much, that’s very kind of you. – Aquí está su postre, junto con un café cortesía de la casa. / Muchas gracias, muy amable de su parte.

• Julio, sé que estás muy ocupado, así que hice la cena para todos. / Gracias, amigo, muy amable de tu parte. – Julio, I know you are very busy, so I made dinner for everyone. / Thank you, my friend, that’s very kind of you.

• Tome su cambio, señora. / Gracias, muy amable. – Take your change, ma’am. / Thank you, very kind [of you].

Estar muy agradecido, Estar muy agradecida

This option is quite formal and means to be very thankful or to be very grateful in Spanish. Estar is conjugated to match the speaker(s), while the adjective needs to match their gender and number. In the first person singular for a woman, for example, I’m very thankful in Spanish would be estoy muy agradecida.

• We are very thankful for the support we have received over the past few years. – Estamos muy agradecidos por el apoyo que hemos recibido en los últimos años.

• Yes, I am very grateful for the opportunity. – Sí, estoy muy agradecida por la oportunidad.

Verbs to say Thank you in Spanish

Now that we’ve covered the main expressions to say thank you in Spanish, let’s move on to the Spanish verbs of gratitude.

The use of object pronouns are very common with these verbs when it’s already clear from the context who’s being thanked or for what. The direct object pronoun is for the person being thanked, while an indirect object pronoun replaces whatever is being thanked for. You’ll see them in the following examples, but if you’re looking for a full explanation on how they work check out our detailed post on Spanish direct and indirect object pronouns.

Agradecer

The Spanish verb agradecer in English is to thank or to give thanks. The first-person singular conjugation for I thank you is yo agradezco, while to say we thank you it’s nosotros agradecemos.

• Mom, I’m done cleaning the backyard. / Thank you [for that], daughter. – Mamá, ya terminé de limpiar el patio. / Te lo agradezco, hija.

• Thank you for staying on the line. We will pass your message to the supervisor right away. / [For that] I thank you very much. – Gracias por mantenerse en línea. En seguida le comunicamos a la supervisora. / Se lo agradezco mucho.

• I thank you for always keeping everything in order around here. – Te agradezco por siempre mantener todo en orden por aquí.

• We thank you very much for your loyalty to our company. – Le agradecemos mucho por su lealtad con nuestra empresa.

• We thank the people who made this achievement possible. – Agradecemos a las personas que hicieron este logro posible.

• I thank my family for motivating me to follow my dreams. – Agradezco a mi familia por motivarme a seguir mis sueños.

Dar las gracias

This expression is very similar to the one above, and it literally means to give thanks in Spanish. The first-person singular conjugation of the verb dar is yo doy, meaning I give.

Note that although yo te doy las gracias in English translates literally as I give to you the thanks, the better equivalent is simply I thank you.

• I thank you for coming to my welcome party. – Te doy las gracias por venir a mi fiesta de bienvenida.

• I thank you for considering my application for the position. – Le doy las gracias por considerar mi candidatura para el puesto.

Apreciar

Apreciar, meaning to appreciate in Spanish, is used in more formal situations. The first-person singular conjugation is yo aprecio, for I appreciate. Of course we can also emphasize the appreciation by adding mucho.

• I appreciate your affection a lot. – Aprecio mucho tu cariño

• I appreciate every day of my life. – Aprecio cada día de mi vida.

• You are very good at your job. / I appreciate it very much. – Eres muy buena en tu trabajo. / Lo aprecio mucho.

Conclusion

Now that we have come to the end, let’s do a little review of what we covered today to make sure you learned how to say thank you in Spanish, shall we?

The first thing we saw is that gracias is the simplest and most common way to say thanks in Spanish. We also learned that it’s a feminine and plural noun so any adjectives that go with it must also be feminine and plural, namely muchas gracias.

We then went through a nice list of other ways to express that you are thankful in Spanish. Some work very well in both formal and informal contexts, others have a much more formal nuance, and others vary in their degree of formality depending on whether the tú or usted form of you is used.

Finally, we saw some verbs that are used to say thank you in Spanish, along with an intro to their use with direct and indirect object pronouns.

At this point, now that you know so many ways to say thank you in Spanish, you surely also want to know how to say you’re welcome, right? Just for you, we have a post where you can learn 13 different ways to say you’re welcome in Spanish. Check it out!

That’s it for today. ¡Gracias por su tiempo, amigos! – Thank you for your time, friends!