Ciao, alunni! How are my language students today? Siete pronti a imparare a dire "you're welcome" come un vero italiano?
When you find yourself in both formal and informal situations while in Italy, per fare una bella figura and show you have good manners, you'll want to make sure you know how to respond to grazie ("thank you" in Italian).
Unfortunately, saying "you're welcome" isn't as easy as learning just one word in Italian. In fact, there are easily dozens of other expressions you can use to respond to "grazie" depending on the situation.
LearnAmo has a great video that breaks down a few ways to say "you're welcome" and together, we'll be looking at the most common phrases you can remember when you want to respond to an Italian "thank you".
Unlike other language learning articles, this lesson will be structured as if you were overhearing a conversation between language students and their teacher to help you get an authentic feel for what it's like to learn Italian with a partner.
Pronti? Via!
- Buongiorno, Riley, ready to learn Italian today?
- Buongiorno, Maestra! Absolutely, I feel like there's so much I still need to learn to be able to talk to people in Italian.
- Don't worry! Non ti preoccupare! Today we're going to be covering a great topic that will help you make a good impression, make a new Italian friend, and sound just like a native speaker.
- That's a lot of benefits. Sounds like it's going to be hard. Either that or you're overselling today's topic.
- Not at all! You already know how to say "thank you" - grazie. Today we're going to cover how to say "you're welcome"!
Grazie mille literally means a thousand graces or a thousand thanks. In English it translates to thank you very much. If you hear someone say this, they're very grateful for whatever someone else did for them.
- The word prego is the easiest way you can say "you're welcome" to someone in Italian. I know it was the first way I learned when I started learning Italian as a little kid! It's a neutral expression that you can use with anyone without having to worry about the formal or informal ways of speaking I know worry about!
- That's easy, Maestra! Just one word? That's not so hard! Thanks for the lesson, I'll see you next week!
- Hold your cavalli, Riley! You have to be careful! Prego is a versatile little word that can mean different things depending on when you use it. Just look at this example, does it sound like the speaker means "you're welcome"?
- Not unless she's begging that guy to be welcome!
- You'd be right, Riley. The word prego can have multiple meanings. It can mean:
Grazie del regalo. (Thank you for the present.)
Prego! (You're welcome!)
Si sieda, prego. (Please, sit down.)
Prego per voi. (I pray for you.)
Ti prego, stare calmo! (I'm begging you, stay calm!)
- Hmm, so I'm guessing that character from the video was using Prego with the last meaning you mentioned.
- Certo, Riley! You have to make sure you know the context if you hear other native speakers use prego, but you don't have to worry about being misunderstood if you want to use it in response to grazie.
However, while we're at it, why don't we look at a few alternative ways to say "you're welcome" to someone after they express gratitude.
- Are you about to complicate something simple?
- Yup!
Usually "prego" means you're welcome. However, it's one of those tricky words that can change meaning depending on the context. It can also mean please in a formal setting, for example.
- Alright, Riley, let's say you bought your friend a coffee and they said "thank you". How would you respond?
- I'd say, "Sorry, I ordered that one for me as well; it takes two coffees to get me going in the morning".
- ...
- What?
- I'm going to pretend like you said "don't mention it", like a normal person. And in Italian, the equivalent of that is "Non c'è di che". Let's look at an example of when you can use it:
Grazie per il tuo aiuto alla festa. (Thanks for your help at the party.)
Non c'è di che! (Don't mention it!)
This is a great way to say "thank you" to an Italian friend or coworker you're close with, but you can also use it with strangers since it's not too formal, but it's also not too informal.
- So it's neither sweet nor sour?
- Correct, mostly because it's an expression and not a food.
This article is showing you multiple ways you can respond to "grazie" in Italian. There's no wrong choice of the options you're learning about today, no matter the context. However, you might have a favorite or you've started to associate certain terms with certain situations. For example, you might use Non c'è di che in reply to something that really wasn't any trouble at all.
- Next, we have di nulla or di niente which both mean "It's nothing"!
- I use that one all the time in English!
- Hurray, Riley. Let's look at an example of how it might sound in an Italian conversation.
Grazie mille per avermi fatto il regalo del compleanno. (Thank you so much for giving me a birthday gift.)
Di nulla, amica mia! (It was nothing, my friend!)
A common mistake English speakers can make when they hear this phrase is to assume it's sarcastic or ill intentioned. Di nulla literally translates to "of/for nothing" and the same goes for the phrase di niente. If you hear this in response to a "thank you" just know that it's a friendly way of saying thank you!
- Okay, this one makes sense.
- They all make sense.
- That's debatable.
Di nulla is very similar to the Spanish De nada. They both mean "it's nothing". It's important not to get the two languages confused, however. De nada doesn't mean anything in Italian.
- Okay Riley, here's another way to say "Don't mention it". If you do someone a favor, you use "ci mancherebbe" o "ci mancherebbe altro". It's sort of like saying 'Of course, I'd do this for you, no need to thank me!'.
- Long words scare me.
- Don't be a scaredy-cat! Here, let's check an example to help you learn.
Grazie di tutto, sei stato un grande aiuto. (Thanks for everything, you've been a big help.)
Oddio, ci mancherebbe altro! (Oh goodness, don't mention it!)
- You kinda lost me there. Doesn't adding the Italian word altro change the meaning at all?
- Not at all! You can use both versions of this phrase interchangeably and you can pick whichever one feels natural to you. However, be careful. If you hear "Ci mancherebbe" in a sentence, make sure you understand the context of the phrase.
The verb "mancare" can be literally translated to the English word "missing". So, you might hear a similar phrase that doesn't mean "you're welcome":
Ci mancherebbe il brodo per fare il minestrone. (We'd be missing the broth to make the soup.)
It's definitely more commonly used as a response to grazie, but not understanding the entire context of a phrase is a very common mistake you can make when you're learning a new language!
- Thanks for the heads-up! So this expression is a double-edged sword.
- I'm not certain that's the right idiom to use here, but sure, let's go with it.
Ci mancherebbe or ci mancherebbe altro are both ways to respond to "thank you" if you want to make sure the person thanking you doesn't feel like they've burdened you. It means "don't mention it". If you'll notice, there are a lot of ways to say "don't worry about it".
- Okay, Riley. Up until now, we've gone over ways to say "you're welcome" in Italian that you can use in most contexts or, at least, don't have a formal and an informal version. Are you ready for something a little bit more challenging?
- I'm really not...
- That's the spirit! It's not that hard, you just have to remember two expressions instead of just one.
- That's literally twice the effort.
- And twice the knowledge! A really popular way you can say "you're welcome" in Italian without using the word prego is:
Grazie per avermi detto la verità. (Thank you for telling me the truth.)
Ma figurati. (Forget about it.)
La ringrazio per la sua pazienza. (Thank you (formal) for your patience.)
Si figuri! (It's nothing!)
The actual meaning of this phrase in this type of context is "imagine (me not doing this)". It's almost like you're telling someone that you couldn't imagine not doing whatever you're being thanked for.
- Okay, not too hard after all!
- I told you! However, like prego and ci mancherebbe, you might hear figurati in a sentence when it doesn't mean "you're welcome".
- You had to complicate it, didn't you?
- Yup! Let's look at an example.
Do you see how the speaker here uses the word figurati? She's using it to mean "forget about it", but in a way that means "don't even think about that", not as a "you're welcome".
- Oh, I see, so...
- Great! Moving on!
Molte grazie is used less often than grazie mille. However, it's still grammatically correct and a perfectly acceptable way to say thank you if you want to say "thanks a lot".
- Alright, Riley, have you ever used the phrase "It's not a problem" when someone thanked you for something?
- You kinda interrupted me back there... But yes, lots of times.
- Great, then you shouldn't have a problem with this way of saying "you're welcome" in Italian. If you want to make sure the person you're talking to doesn't feel like they've inconvenienced you, you can respond to their grazie with "Non c'è problema" or "Non c'è nessuno problema". Whichever you feel more comfortable using, it doesn't matter, because both mean "no problem"!
Here, let's look at it in an example:
Grazie per il sostegno che mi hai dato. (Thank you for the support you've given me.)
Non c'è problema! (It's no problem!)
Got it?
- Yes, but you're moving very fast. Are you in a hurry or something?
- My favorite soap opera starts in ten minutes! Last one.
There are tons of ways to say "you're welcome" in Italian. The most common is "prego". Other forms, however, might be used to show different levels of familiarity with the person, formal situations, or different levels of favors you're being thanked for.
- When you want to let the person who is thanking you know that you were happy to do them a favor, you can simply use the phrase è stato un piacere which literally means "it was a pleasure".
- Is that soap opera that entertaining?
- Yes, today it's Giuseppe and Vittoria's wedding! Just to be sure you remember this last one. Here's an example:
Grazie per avermi accompagnato qui. (Thank you for coming here with me.)
È stato un piacere. (It was a pleasure.)
- Got it?
- Got it!
If you don't see words written, it can be hard to know how they're spelled. Grazie is one of those words that can be difficult to spell if you're not used to Italian spelling. Graci, however, doesn't mean anything in Italian.
- Well, Riley, we made it. How do you feel?
- I've learned a lot, Maestra! I have a lot of studying to do, but I can't wait to try using one of these ways to say "you're welcome" in Italian in real life!
- That's great, Riley! Practice makes perfect, you'll get the hang of things and even start combining some of these expressions in no time!
- Thanks, Maestra! Grazie per la lezione di oggi! And let me know how your soap opera goes!
- Di nulla, Riley. È stato un piacere! Time to turn on the TV!
There are many ways to respond to grazie in Italian. As long as the person thanking you knows that you're trying to say "you're welcome" or that it was no trouble at all, then it's not a problem which one you pick. It's also important to recognize the different responses to grazie so you can recognize them if you ever thank someone in Italian.
