What's the difference between 谢谢 vs 感谢 vs 跪谢 vs 多谢?

Question

While expressing gratitude in spoken Mandarin, I believe people use 谢谢 and 感谢.

For example:

谢谢你的时间

谢谢你带我来这里

And:

感谢你的时间

感谢你带我来这里

Does 感谢 imply a higher level of gratitude? Is there a difference in usage (stemming from culture, origin, etc.), or can they be used interchangeably?

I have also seen 多谢 and 跪谢 used in the signature of emails. Do these words implicitly convey different "levels" of gratitude?　

I am a little confused with the difference in usages of these 4 forms of thanks. Any explanations or suggestions?

Answer 1

• 谢 is a verb for 'to thanks'. It is mostly used in literary form, e.g. "谢天谢地", "谢主隆恩.

• In colloquial form "多谢" (literally means 'many thanks' or 'thanks a lot') would replace "谢" for "thanks". It is often used as a proclamation, e.g. "多谢!". "多谢" is also used as a common verb, e.g. 要多谢上帝 (have to thanks God)

• "谢谢" (reduplicating 谢 to stress a higher degree) is also commonly used as a proclamation, e.g. "谢谢!". However, "要谢谢上帝" is less common than "要多谢上帝" when both are used as a common verb

• "感谢" is less common as a proclamation than 多谢 or 谢谢. Far fewer people would say "感谢你" instead of "多谢你" or "谢谢你" ; However, it is used as a common verb the most. "要感谢上帝" is more common than "要多谢上帝" or "要谢谢上帝". And "感谢" is also a noun for "gratitude"

Conclusion:

多谢 (thanks) - 1. proclamation; 2. verb

谢谢 (thanks) - 1. proclamation; 2. verb

感谢 (thanks/ gratitude) - 1.verb; 2.noun (e.g.這份感谢 = this gratitude)

proclamations are terms like: 多谢! 對不起 (sorry)! 可惡 (damn)!

跪谢 literally means "kneel down and thanks" it is a shortened form of "跪下說多谢", which is a verb phrase

Similar to 叩谢 (叩頭感谢) kowtow and thanks

Answer 2

谢谢: thanks, thank you.

感谢: thank you so much, or sometimes: thanks someone gratefully/appreciatively.

跪谢: internet slang, literally meaning: kneel down to someone and say thanks, like 跪求, same as 感谢.

多谢: thanks, thanks a lot, same as 谢谢.

Answer 3

谢谢 is just "thanks".

感谢 is a bit more formal than 谢谢, but the difference is subtle, you can pretty much use these two randomly.

跪谢 is basically "kneel down and thanks", which was how lower class people show thanks to higher class people in the old time. Now it's used as an internet slang, like when you posting for help/info online, you can use 跪谢！ in the end of the context naturally. It's not formally used.

多谢 is "thank you very much", showing stronger gratitude than 谢谢, and can also be used formally.

Answer 4

I'd like to add some points:

1. The example you mentioned in your statement “感谢你的时间” makes no sense, I guess you might want to say: "感谢你（为我）抽/腾出时间"（“Thank you for making time（for me”）

2. About "跪谢": people in mainland China use it usually when asking for help, for example "求复联3的种子，跪谢" which means "Beg for the free BT download link of Avengers 3，kneel down and thanks"（My translation of "种子"is not accurate, but I've tried my best to make it easy to understand）

Note that “跪谢” is usually a separate sentence after your request.

3. When you want to level up the gratitude，you could say “十分/非常/万分感谢”（十分、非常、万分 all mean “very much”）but don't say “十分多谢” or “十分跪谢”，it makes no sense.

4. If you want to make it sounds more casual or soften the intensity of gratitude, like when a friend of yours does you a little favor, you could say:

谢啦 / 谢了啊 / 谢了哈 / 谢了哦

The use of reduplicated word has similar effect:

谢谢谢谢 / 感谢感谢 / 多谢多谢

Answer 5

Hokkien Decoding: 多谢你 Tochadi - To Sia Di 暗故 Amgo-amku 那阿尼 Nane- Na A Ne 维纳 Miyena - Mienah 什么呆滞 Samitaytsi - Siamitaitsi Common Expressions Used By Taiwanese and Overseas Chinese.