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As a thank you for the people hosting a party I brought them a little present. They said:

"Danke schön! Das wäre aber nicht nötig gewesen."

Shouldn't I have given them anything? Did I do something else wrong?

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  • Danke, das war bitter nötig!
    – user unknown
    Sep 3 '11 at 21:34
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    In Swabian: Des het's aber et 'braucht!
    – Ingo
    Sep 8 '11 at 10:37
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It's a phrase to express gratitude. It is an indirect acknowledgment that you intended the gift as a gift, and not for satisfying a perceived necessity ("nötig" comes from "Not", English "need" or "poverty").

The confusion probably comes from the literal translation "That was not necessary / unnecessary", which, as I understand it, is a defensive remark to an attack or insult of sorts.

Edit: The more idiomatic translation and English equivalent is probably "Oh, you didn't have to!", in a positive meaning.

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    Good answer. I'd like to add that people often use this phrase even if they did expect you to bring a present.
    – user568
    Sep 3 '11 at 16:45
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    btw: The "correct" answer to "das wäre doch nicht nötig gewesen" is something along the lines of "aber das ist doch nur eine Kleinigkeit" or "nicht der Rede wert".
    – 0x6d64
    Sep 4 '11 at 0:29
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    The mentioned defensive remark to an attack or insult would be "das war [jetzt] [aber] unnötig" in German.
    – OregonGhost
    Sep 5 '11 at 8:53
  • @Stefan: +1 Right! Who says Germans can't be Japanese :-)
    – Kage
    Sep 5 '11 at 20:42
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It's just a polite phrase meant to convey that you in no way expected to receive a gift, frequently used even by people who did in fact expect one, but want to appear polite. The English equivalent is "Oh, you shouldn't have!"

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