How to Say “Thank You” in Chinese

The most common way to say thank you in Chinese is 谢谢 (xièxie, often written xie xie), the standard word for thanks in Mandarin. Tap the characters or the pinyin to hear it in two different voices. You can say it to a shop assistant, a taxi driver, your teacher or a stranger who holds a door for you.

We’ve gathered 23 ways to thank someone, from a quick 谢啦 with friends to a formal 非常感谢, and eleven ways to answer when someone thanks you. Jump to the full list of phrases.

01 How to Say Thank You in Chinese: 谢谢 (xièxie)

谢谢 | xièxie | thank you

谢谢 is an HSK 1 word, and it is word number one on the beginner list we are writing at the Chinese Language Institute (CLI).

How to pronounce 谢谢

Most English speakers say the x in xièxie as “sh,” and that is the part to fix. Put the tip of your tongue behind your lower front teeth, spread your lips a little as if you were smiling, and push air through. The result sits between “s” and “sh.”

The first syllable is fourth tone, a quick fall from high to low. The second is neutral, short and light: one strong beat and a soft echo. “Shay shay” gets you understood, but copy the recordings to sound closer. If pinyin is new to you, start with what pinyin is.

How to write 谢谢

谢谢 is the same character written twice. On its own, 谢 (xiè) means “to thank.” It has 12 strokes and two parts. Our guide to Chinese stroke order shows how to write characters like it.

On the left is 讠, the speech radical, found in many characters to do with talking. It is the form 言 (yán, speech) takes on the left side of a character in simplified Chinese, and 言 is also the character in CLI’s logo. On the right, 射 (shè, to shoot) gives the character its sound, even if the match with xiè is only approximate today.

The traditional form is 謝謝, with the full 言 on the left and 17 strokes per character. Our guide to simplified characters explains the difference, and you can look up 讠 in our Radical & Stroke Explorer.

谢谢你 and 谢谢您

Adding “you” makes the thanks a little more direct. 谢谢你 (xièxie nǐ) uses 你, the everyday “you,” for friends, classmates, shop staff and anyone about your age. 谢谢您 (xièxie nín) uses 您, the polite “you,” for elders, teachers, customers and anyone you would call sir or ma’am. If in doubt with someone older, use 您.

谢谢你请我喝咖啡！
Xièxie nǐ qǐng wǒ hē kāfēi!
Thanks for buying me coffee!

谢谢您，阿姨。
Xièxie nín, āyí.
Thank you, ma’am.

阿姨 (āyí, “auntie”) is a polite way to address a woman of your mother’s generation, such as the woman who runs the rice noodle shop on your street.

谢谢大家 and 谢谢老师

谢谢大家 (xièxie dàjiā) thanks a whole group, at the end of a talk or in a WeChat group when people have helped out. 谢谢老师 (xièxie lǎoshī) is what students say to their teacher, and you’ll often hear it at the end of a class.

谢谢大家今天能来。
Xièxie dàjiā jīntiān néng lái.
Thank you all for coming today.

02 How to Say Thank You Very Much in Chinese

For bigger thanks, Chinese uses 感谢 (gǎnxiè), a more formal verb meaning “to thank” or “to be grateful.” You’ll see it on signs and in emails, but on WeChat 感谢感谢！ (gǎnxiè gǎnxiè!) is also a quick, friendly thanks, often from colleagues or shop owners. The table shows roughly how strong each phrase is.

非常感谢 | fēicháng gǎnxiè | thank you very much

非常 means “very.” 非常感谢 is the everyday polite version for staff, strangers and formal emails, and with friends it can sound a bit stiff.

非常感谢您的耐心等待。
Fēicháng gǎnxiè nín de nàixīn děngdài.
Thank you very much for your patience.

太感谢了 and 太谢谢你了

太 usually means “too,” but with 了 at the end it means “so.” 太感谢了 (tài gǎnxiè le) is a warm, spoken “thank you so much” for real help. 太谢谢你了 (tài xièxie nǐ le) is a little more personal, for a friend who has just saved your day.

太感谢了！你帮了我大忙。
Tài gǎnxiè le! Nǐ bāng le wǒ dà máng.
Thank you so much! You’ve been a huge help.

万分感谢 and 感激不尽

These two are strong and formal, and more common in writing than in speech. 万分感谢 (wànfēn gǎnxiè) literally means “ten-thousand-fold thanks,” close to “a million thanks.” 感激不尽 (gǎnjī bù jìn) is an idiom meaning “I can’t thank you enough.” Save it for a big favor, like a reference letter; for a cup of coffee it sounds like a joke.

感谢您的支持 | gǎnxiè nín de zhīchí | thank you for your support

Companies, shops and organizers say this to their customers, partners and backers. Presentations often end with 感谢聆听 (gǎnxiè língtīng, thank you for listening) on the last slide, though some teachers call it a misuse; 谢谢大家 is always safe. Our guide to business Chinese phrases has more for the office.

03 Casual Ways to Say Thanks

多谢 | duōxiè | many thanks

多谢 literally means “many thanks.” It is casual and friendly, and you’ll hear it more in Guangdong, where Cantonese uses the same word (see the FAQ). Elsewhere it is mostly used between friends.

谢啦 and 谢了

With friends, you can cut 谢谢 down to one syllable and add a particle. 谢啦 (xiè la) is a cheerful “thanks!”, said or texted. 谢了 (xiè le) is more offhand, closer to “cheers.” Neither is right for your boss or your teacher.

3Q

In texts you may still see 3Q, a pun on “thank you”: three is sān, close to “thank,” and Q stands for “you.” It is dated internet slang now; people are more likely to type 谢啦 or the jokey 蟹蟹, which swaps in 蟹 (xiè, crab). See Chinese internet slang for more.

不用了，谢谢 | bùyòng le, xièxie | no, thank you

To turn down an offer politely, put 不用了 (“no need”) in front of 谢谢. It works for a street vendor calling you over or a friend offering a second helping. For more ways to decline, see saying no in Chinese.

04 Thanking Someone for Something Specific

These phrases thank someone for one particular thing. Several of them don’t use 谢谢.

谢谢你的帮助 | xièxie nǐ de bāngzhù | thanks for your help

帮助 (bāngzhù) means “help.” 谢谢你的 plus a noun works with words like 帮助, 支持 (zhīchí, support), 理解 (lǐjiě, understanding) and 礼物 (lǐwù, gift). For something someone did, use a verb instead: 谢谢你帮我 (xièxie nǐ bāng wǒ, thanks for helping me), or 谢谢你请我喝咖啡 above. Use 您 instead of 你 with someone older.

辛苦了 | xīnkǔ le | thanks for your hard work

辛苦了 means “you’ve worked hard.” You say it to someone who has just done something tiring, often for you, like a driver who carried your bags up the stairs or a host who cooked all afternoon. It thanks them for the effort itself. On Teachers’ Day, students say 老师辛苦了 to thank their teachers for all their hard work.

师傅，辛苦了！
Shīfu, xīnkǔ le!
Thanks for your hard work! (to a driver or worker)

师傅 (shīfu) is a polite way to address a driver or anyone skilled at a trade. At work, 辛苦了 is the standard WeChat reply when a colleague sends you a file or finishes a task.

收到，辛苦了！
Shōudào, xīnkǔ le!
Got it, thanks for your work!

麻烦你了 | máfan nǐ le | sorry for the trouble

麻烦 means “trouble,” so this phrase is half thanks and half apology. Say 麻烦你 before a request, and 麻烦你了 once someone agrees or has helped. For the apology side, see sorry in Chinese.

麻烦你了，谢谢！
Máfan nǐ le, xièxie!
Sorry for the trouble, thank you!

让你破费了 and 你太客气了

These two come up when someone gives you a gift or treats you to a meal. 让你破费了 (ràng nǐ pòfèi le) means “you shouldn’t have spent money on me.” 你太客气了 (nǐ tài kèqi le) means “you’re too kind” (literally “you’re too polite”), and it also works after a favor or a compliment. Gift etiquette has its own page: Chinese gift ideas.

谢天谢地 | xiètiān xièdì | thank goodness

谢天谢地 literally thanks heaven and earth. It expresses relief, and you don’t say it to a person: it is what comes out when your lost passport turns up or the rain stops just before a hike.

谢天谢地，你没事！
Xiètiān xièdì, nǐ méi shì!
Thank goodness you’re okay!

感恩 and 感恩节

感恩 (gǎn'ēn) names gratitude as a virtue, as in 要懂得感恩 (yào dǒngde gǎn'ēn, you should know how to be grateful). A bare 感恩！ as a thank-you can sound preachy or like marketing, so use 谢谢 or 感谢 instead. Add 节 (jié, festival) and you get 感恩节 (Gǎn'ēn Jié), Thanksgiving. Here is how we celebrate Thanksgiving in Guilin.

Say It to a Real Teacher

Say a few of these phrases out loud in a free 30-minute online lesson with one of our teachers in Guilin, China, and your teacher will tell you which tones to work on.

무료 레슨을 예약하세요 Try the free Chinese course

05 How to Say You’re Welcome in Chinese

When someone thanks you, the usual answer is 不客气 (bù kèqi), “you’re welcome.” Literally it means “no need to be polite.” Here are eleven replies you’ll hear.

应该的 means “it’s what I should do.” 哪里哪里 literally means “where, where?” and sounds a little old-fashioned now; younger people tend to say 没有没有 (méiyǒu méiyǒu). One reply to avoid: 没关系 (méi guānxi, never mind) answers 对不起 (duìbuqǐ, sorry), not 谢谢.

别客气 is also what a host says before you’ve thanked anyone, to make you feel at home:

别客气，多吃点！
Bié kèqi, duō chī diǎn!
Don’t be shy, have some more!

06 When Chinese Speakers Don’t Say Thank You

Spend a few weeks in China and you’ll notice that close friends and family rarely say 谢谢 to each other. When a friend pays for lunch, you’re more likely to hear 下次我请 (xià cì wǒ qǐng, next time’s on me) than 谢谢.

A 2023 study by Jiaqi Yu and Shereen Chaudhry in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology measured this. In the speeches of 335 award winners, about 70% of the Americans thanked people close to them, such as family, against about 20% of the Chinese. In a lab test, participants could send a two-minute recorded thank-you to someone close to them or do a duller three-minute computer task: 57% of Americans chose the thank-you, against 32% of Chinese participants. The researchers’ explanation is that thanks signal someone did more than you expected, and in China people expect more of those closest to them, so formal thanks for a small favor can make a friend feel like a stranger (summary of the study).

Thanking a friend is still fine, and a light 谢啦 is plenty for small things. For bigger favors, friends pay you back by picking up the bill next time (after the usual friendly fight over who pays) or by helping when you need it.

The tea tap

At a dim sum or tea table, especially in southern China, you’ll see people tap two bent fingers on the table when someone refills their cup. It is a silent thank you, handy when you have a mouth full of dumpling. Legend traces it to the Qianlong Emperor, who traveled in disguise and poured tea for his servants. A kowtow would have given him away, so they bent two fingers on the table to stand for kneeling. The rest of the meal is in Chinese table manners.

07 Practice: Three Short Dialogues and a Quiz

Tap the speaker icon after a line to hear it, then say it yourself.

Dialogue 1: A friend returns your phone

Dialogue 2: After class

Dialogue 3: Bringing a gift

Playing the gift down with 一点小意思 is the polite thing to do.

Quiz: which would you say?

1. Your teacher stays late to help you. Which is the best way to thank her?
(a) 谢了 xiè le  (b) 谢谢您 xièxie nín  (c) 3Q

2. A taxi driver helps you carry your heavy bags. What can you add after 谢谢?
(a) 师傅，辛苦了！ shīfu, xīnkǔ le!  (b) 谢天谢地 xiètiān xièdì  (c) 不客气 bù kèqi

3. A friend’s mother cooks you dinner and gives you a small gift as you leave. What do you say?
(a) 没事 méi shì  (b) 您太客气了 nín tài kèqi le  (c) 小意思 xiǎoyìsi

4. You hold a door open and someone says 谢谢. What is the most natural reply?
(a) 不客气 bù kèqi  (b) 感激不尽 gǎnjī bù jìn  (c) 谢天谢地 xiètiān xièdì

5. You are writing a formal email to thank a partner school. How do you start your thanks?
(a) 谢啦 xiè la  (b) 非常感谢 fēicháng gǎnxiè  (c) 哪里哪里 nǎlǐ nǎlǐ

08 Chinese Words for Thank You: Vocabulary List

Here is every phrase from this guide. The 23 ways to thank someone are numbered, and the replies come last.

Levels are from HSK 3.0 (7–9 is the advanced band). A final 了 or 啦 is ignored, and 谢 counts as level 1 like 谢谢. “Phrase” means the list has no entry for the whole phrase, and “not listed” means a word the list leaves out.

09 FAQ About Saying Thank You in Chinese

10 Keep Going

Start with 谢谢 and 不客气, since you’ll use them every day, and add the others as situations come up. If you are new to Chinese, our free Chinese course has six short Mandarin lessons for complete beginners; Lesson 3 teaches hello, yes and no, and numbers. To try them on a real person, book a free 30-minute trial lesson with one of our teachers.

And if you’d like to hear 谢谢 a hundred times a day, come and study with us in Guilin on our Immersion Program.