What are common ways to say “Thank you very, very much” in a formal or business setting? I am interested in both, phrases for a written letter, and formal ways to express "thank you" in talking. Are they different?
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21) As it stands, this is a translation question which does not show prior research effort and would thus be closed. To avoid this and to get a satisfying answer, please clarify why a dictionary did not provide a satisfying answer (see also this guide. 2) Can you somewhat clarify the desired intensity of thanking? The title of your questions seems to ask for regular thanks; “very, very” seems to be asking for something more emphasised or overly thankful. – Wrzlprmft♦ Sep 7 '14 at 22:53
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@Wrzlprmft: edited Q to narrow it a bit down. – Takkat Sep 8 '14 at 7:28
There is not the answer, but I think the most common and formal one would be
Vielen herzlichen Dank
To thank in a regular way, in Germany, you say
Dankeschön!
while in Austria you say
Danke sehr!
But you can use both phrases in both countries. For a more intense way to thank, you can say in both countries:
Vielen, vielen Dank
or
Ich danke vielmals!
Sadly, I dont know how they thank in Switzerland, but I am sure, you will be understood also, if you use the phrases above.
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In Switzerland, you'd probably hear "Danke vielmal!" in most cases, but there are regional variatons. And "Dankeschön!" is also used a lot, from my experience. – Pierre Arnaud Sep 9 '14 at 11:42
The "best way" depends on the context in which it is used. Without any further details I would say:
Vielen, vielen Dank.
If it should be a little more personal:
Vielen lieben Dank.
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What's the difference between 'lieben' and 'hezlichen'? Thanks a ton. I had it as wrong as 'Vielen Dank, dass Sie sehr, sehr viel' (Google Translate), haha – ST42 Sep 7 '14 at 22:25
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@ST42: „Lieben Dank“ is more personal/intimate than „herzlichen Dank“. The latter is appropriate for a business relationship, too. – Christopher Creutzig Sep 8 '14 at 9:32
To emphasize the very, you could say
(Meinen) besten Dank.
To add a more personal touch, herzlichen instead of besten works fine, in both cases you express above-average gratitude.
I would go with
Vielen, vielen Dank
or
Ich danke Ihnen sehr
which expresses your special gratitude because you explicitly say that it is you who is thanking the other.
However... I'm not sure that it is at all common to thank people a lot in business relations in Germany. It would be a weird bit too personal for my taste to express deep feelings of gratitude, especially if you say the circumstances are rather formal. You would rather emphasize how happy you are about the great opportunities you gain by this deal, or how much this decision has helped you to reach your goals.
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If used in a formal setting, „vielen, vielen Dank“ would sound immature to me, especially in writing. But I am an old man. – Carsten S Sep 9 '14 at 8:20
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1True - I was assuming the setting were a face-to-face conversation, during a meeting or the like, because I imagined the big thanks to be given as a more personal note in an otherwise formal setting. In a speech, in official negotiations or even written word, I would definitely not use that. "Vielen, vielen Dank" is as personal as I would go, if you will. – Sir Jane Sep 9 '14 at 8:29
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Supplementary answer: For business settings I would suggest a longer sentence, like
Ich möchte mich bei Ihnen herzlichst bedanken.
or
Ich möchte mich bei Ihnen für Ihr/e/n
random positive attributesehr herzlich bedanken.
Usually, Germans tend to express emotions in not too many words, so a simple
Vielen Dank!
would be the most common way to say that. And that is perfectly fine to do so, there is no need to do it more bloomy.
I saw the difference when having a friend from the U.S. visiting me here and I just proposed to do a little show-around, and she used words like awesome and thank you sooo very much - if a German had uttered such words, I'd think he's kidding me, but with an American that means just thank you.
Nevertheless, Germans also had great poets and the language is able to express it in a more complex way, such as
Ich möchte Ihnen meinen allergrößten Dank zum Ausdruck bringen!
But one wouldn't use it in normal business talk, even in a formal one.
answered Sep 9 '14 at 6:37
Vielen Dank
or
Ich danke Ihnen
are the best ways so far
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1You know that for a fact? Try writing "ich danke ihnen" in an application correspondence. – user6191 Sep 8 '14 at 17:02
