How to say Thank You in 44 Languages

As a traveler, one of the main reasons we love to get out there and visit far-off places is to indulge our desire to experience cultures. Honestly, not speaking the language or generally having a clue what’s happening is part of the fun!

Yes, you could mutter “Thank You” in English but wouldn’t it be great if you could loudly and proudly converse, even just a little bit, with the locals? They’d appreciate it, that’s for sure.

To make that a bit easier, I’ve spent the past 6 hours on Google compiling this list of ways to say ‘thank you in 44 languages. Please take a look, soak it up, and then take to the comments box below to share any useful phrases of your own with would-be travelers.

Mandarin – China, Malaysia Singapore, Taiwan

Xie xie (pronounced ‘shay shay’)

Spanish – Spain, South and Central America except Brazil

Gracias (as a general rule, it’s pronounced ‘gra-thee-ass’ in Spain and ‘gra-see-ass’ in South America)

Hindi – India

Shukria (pronunced suk-ri-yaa) or dhanyawaad (pronounced ‘dhuhn-Ya-Vaad’)

Arabic – North Africa, Middle East

Shukran (pronounced ‘shook-ran’)

Portuguese – Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique

Obrigado (pronounced ‘ob-ree-gado’) for a man.
Obrigada (pronounced ‘ob-ree-gada’) for a woman.

Bengali – Banglasdesh, India

Tōmākē dhan’yabāda (pronounced ‘dhon-no-baad’)

Russian – Russia, Israel, Mongolia

Spasiba (pronounced ‘spa-see-ba’)

Japanese – Japan

Arigatō (pronounced ‘ah-ree-gah-toe’)

Fijian – Fiji

Vinaka (pronounced ‘vin-ya-ka’)

German – Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium

Danke (pronounced ‘dank-uh’)

Malay/Indonesian – Malaysia, Indonesia

Terima kasih (pronounced ‘tuh-ree-mah kah-see’)

Vietnamese – Vietnam

Cảm on (pronounced ‘gahm-uhn’)

Korean – North and South Korea

Komapsumnida (pronounced ‘gam-sa-hap-ni-da’) or kamsahamnida (‘kam-sam-nee-dah)

French – France, Belgium, Canada, parts of Africa

Merci (pronounced ‘mair-see’)

Marathi – India

Dhanyawaad (pronounced ‘dhuhn-Ya-vaad’)

Tamil – India, Singapore, Malaysia Mautitius

Nandri (pronounced ‘nan-dri’)

Urdu – Pakistan, India

Shukria (pronounced ‘suk-ri-yaa’)

Turkish – Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria

Teşekkürler (pronounced ‘te-shek-kewr-lehr’)

Italian – Italy, Switzerland

Grazie (pronounced ‘gra-ziee’)

Cantonese – Hong Kong, China

M̀h’gōi (use this for when someone does something for you i.e when a waiter puts down your food. Pronounced ‘m-goi’)
Dōjeh (use this for when someone gives you something i.e a gift, or a lift somewhere. Pronounced ‘do-ze’)

Thai – Thailand

Khob-kun-Ka If you are a woman (pronounced kob-koon-ka)
Khob-kun-Krub If you are a man (pronounced kob-koon-kab)

Armenian – Armenia, Russia, Middle East

Shnorhakalut’yun (pronounced ‘shuh-nor-ha-ga-lu-tune’)

Gugarati – India, Bangladesh

Dhanyawaad (pronounced ‘dhuhn-ya-vaad’) or aabhar

Albanian – Albania

Falemnderit (pronounced ‘fah-lehm-meen-deh-reet’)

Polish – Poland

Dziękuję (pronounced ‘jen-ku-je’)

Burmese – Burma/Myanmar

Chezu tinbade (pronounced ‘chei-zu tin-bar-te’)

Romanian – Romania, Moldova

Mulţumesc (pronounced ‘mult-zoo-mesc’)

Kurdish – Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria

Sipas (pronounced ‘si-pas’)

Azerbaijani – Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran

Sag olun (pronounced ‘sa-olun’)

Visayan/Cebuano – Philippines

Salamat (pronounced ‘sal-amat’)

Dutch – Netherlands, Belgium

Dank je (pronounced ‘dahnk yuh’)

Serbo-Croatian – Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia

Hvala (pronounced ‘hvah-lah’)

Nepali – Nepal

Dhanyabaad (pronounced ‘dhan-naii-bat’)

Khmer – Cambodia

Ar kun (pronounced ‘aw-kunh’)

Somali – Somalia

Mahad sanid (pronounced ‘me-had sen-eed’)

Hungarian – Hungary

Köszönöm (pronounced ‘khoe-se-noem’)

Greek – Greece, Cyprus

Efcharisto (pronounced ‘ef-κha-ree-sto’)

Chichewa/Chewa – Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia

Zikomo (pronounced ‘zee-ko-mo’)

Hebrew – Israel

Toda (pronounced ‘toe-dah’)

Czech – Czech Rebublic

Děkuji (pronounced ‘dye-koo-yi’)

Zulu – South Africa

Ngiyabonga (pronounced ni(knee)-ya-bonga’)

Hawaiian – Hawaii

Mahalo (pronounced ‘ma-ha-lo’)

Swedish – Sweden, Finland

Tack (pronounced ‘tack’)

Lao = Laos

Khawp jai (pronounced ‘kah-awb jai’)