名师指导远离蹩脚英语之Saying Thank You

　　Thank you may be the most useful word in the Englishlanguage. There are many ways to say thankyou; this section gives you the most common. Sometimes language learnersare confused about when to use the word thank and when to use thanks. It may helpto understand that thank you is shortfor I thank you, which uses the firstperson singular form of the verb to thank.In most other expressions, the word is thanks,a plural noun. There are lots of common and acceptable responses to thanks, shown in the next section。

　　Thanks a million。

　　Thanks a bunch。

　　Thanks a lot。

　　Thanks much 。

　　Many thanks。

　　Icant thank you enough。

　　A related expression is I owe you one, which is an informal wayto say I must repay your kindness。 Here are some examples:

　　Thanks for all your help. I owe you one.I owe you one for loaning me your car。

　　When someone says Thank you, the standard response is Youre welcome. Youre most welcome is a more formal version. Veryoften, however, people use other responses to thank you, from the very formal Thepleasure was all mine! To the slangy Nosweat。

　　The expressions that follow are common waysof saying Youre welcome, though eachhas its specific implication, as indicated:

　　 my pleasure: means It gave me pleasure to doit

　　Anytime:

　　means Ask me for help anytime

　　Sure:

　　slangy, familiar

　　Noproblem: means It caused me no problem

　　Notat all: means Its not necessary to thank me atall; it was not a problem for me at all

　　Nosweat: slangy; means I didnt sweat or becomeoverworked by helping

　　Itsnothing: means It was like doing nothing: it waseasy

　　Dontworry about it: means Dont feel uncomfortablebecause you asked for help; dont worry about repaying me

　　Dont mention it: means No need to thank me; no need toeven mention it。

　　Forget it: slightly harsh; means I dont want tobe thanked

　　In American culture where self-sufficiencyis highly valued, saying something like Itwas no trouble may save face or possible embarrassment for the person whoreceived something or requested help。