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In order to be polite and answer in a social way I have had some hesitation to choose which phrase I should use.

  1. You are welcome. I'm glad it helped.
  2. You are welcome. I'm glad I could contribute.
  3. You are welcome. I'm glad that I could help.
  4. No problem. I'm happy that I could help.

If you have better phrases, please add, since it's fun to learn more.

fedorqui
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Adam
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5 Answers5

95

I commend your desire to be polite!

However, since your question is specifically about “stackoverflow sites”, I recommend you do not respond to “thank you” comments or post your own “thank you”-type comments. The “What should I do when someone answers my question?” section of the site's Help Center says this:

Please do not add a comment on your question or on an answer to say "Thank you". Comments are meant for requesting clarification, leaving constructive criticism, or adding relevant but minor additional information – not for socializing. If you want to say "thank you," vote on or accept that person's answer, or simply pay it forward by providing a great answer to someone else's question.

rob mayoff
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    Thank you for bringing this up. I was hoping someone would. – J.R. Apr 20 '17 at 16:13
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    @J.R. Please do not use comments to say "Thank you" ;-) Joking aside, I just learned this rule existed. The More You Know – walen Apr 21 '17 at 07:40
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    Yes, this. My suggestion would be to up-vote whatever kind of post they used. That gives them the "warm fuzzy" back that you'd like to give. – T.E.D. Apr 21 '17 at 14:10
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    @T.E.D.: A warm fuzzy back? No thanks, I already have one. – TonyK Apr 21 '17 at 17:16
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    Yet, is a full answer on ELL a place to teach the users stackexchange rules? Doesn't that break the rules on answering in its own right? Chatrooms are also a part of SE sites and the OP might be responding to a thank you there? Just wandering... – Lucky Apr 21 '17 at 20:43
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    I felt this was appropriate because the question was specifically about “stackoverflow sites” (those were the words from the question title, which has since been edited to instead say “Stack Exchange sites”), where we encourage a particular etiquette, and @SteveES had already posted a very good answer applicable to other (non-Stack Exchange) sites and general writing. – rob mayoff Apr 21 '17 at 21:46
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    If the comment doesn't contain much other than 'Thanks', you may want to consider flagging it as 'too chatty' – angussidney Apr 23 '17 at 09:37
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    A good answer to the context of the question — if it were posted on Meta. As for here, let us take it to concern the broader question of how to reply to a compliment or the like. – can-ned_food Apr 23 '17 at 21:43
  • @Lucky I believe you mean, "Just wondering." I see that mix-up a lot when I wander the Interwebs. – Darcinon Apr 24 '17 at 18:38
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    @Darcinon Yes, homophones keep haunting me :-). I'd say thanks for pointing it out, but being polite seems to be a great transgression here... – Lucky Apr 24 '17 at 18:47
41

All your examples are fine. I would offer the following advice to make it sound more natural to a native, however, the most important of which can be summarised by saying keep it short.

  • Shorten "You are welcome" to "You're welcome".
  • You don't necessarily need to say I'm in the follow-up sentences, as this is obvious to the reader from context. Saying something like "Happy to help" or "Glad it helped" is fine. In fact, if you use the word "I" or "me" too much, it can come across as being self-congratulatory/boastful/self-centered/self-important.
  • The simple acknowledgement of thanks is often sufficient ("You're welcome"), you don't necessarily also need to state your happiness for being helpful.
  • (Flagrantly stealing from Robusto's comment) You can often shorten "you're welcome" or "no problem" to the acronyms YW or NP.
  • Use exclamation marks or smiley faces to appear more jovial, e.g. "Happy to help!" or "You're welcome :)".
  • Contribute is probably more appropriate if it was a group effort, e.g. a discussion, otherwise, help is probably more appropriate. You can also use "to be of service" (e.g. "Glad to be of service"), but "help" is again probably more informal/generally appropriate.
  • If you don't know whether the OP has found something helpful yet, you can use "I hope" to indicate that you would like your contribution to be helpful. You could say something like "I hope you find it useful/helpful".
  • (Especially if you are Australian/speaking to an Aussie) You can use the phrase "No worries" in a similar way to "No problem".
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SteveES
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    I'm not so sure about "YW" or "NP". I would have no idea what you're talking about. Better to just write it out in full. –  Apr 20 '17 at 17:00
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    as a Brit, "happy to help" sounds like an Americanism and often seems insincere, in the same way that people are required to say "have a nice day" as part of their job, not because they mean it. – alephzero Apr 20 '17 at 17:09
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    While well written, this answer doesn't actually address the context - Stack Exchange. We don't do that here; see https://ell.stackexchange.com/a/127222/27657 – T.J.L. Apr 20 '17 at 19:28
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    @T.J.L. You're absolutely correct, and that's why the answer that has addressed it has got a higher score so far! – SteveES Apr 20 '17 at 19:31
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    FWIW, as an AmE speaker, "No worries" sounds more like a way to respond to somebody apologizing for a minor inconvenience. Outside of an Australian context, I'd be concerned that "no worries" would imply to the other person that they inconvenienced me. – PeterL Apr 20 '17 at 22:31
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    @FighterJet : I would question YW without context. But if this was said in response to someone who just said "ty", I'd be much more likely to figure it out. – TOOGAM Apr 22 '17 at 03:26
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    @TOOGAM: I'd probably figure it out eventually, but it might take a bit of thinking. Just like I have to think about what YMMV means if I haven't seen it in a while ("your mileage may vary"), or IMHO ("in my humble opinion"). Maybe it's just me, but I greatly dislike this tendency to initialise common language because it greatly reduces comprehension. I never got on the "gr8 ur awsum" bandwagon either. –  Apr 22 '17 at 15:31
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    @FighterJet As you accurately remark, that is common language. Consequently, no deep comprehension is required – using abbreviations would be apt. –  Apr 23 '17 at 18:54
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    @user: Abbreviations, sure. I have no problem with OK, cause, int'l, or N. America. Everybody can figure out what those mean. But initialisms like IANAL or IMHO are opaque and (unless you're on Twitter) are of little benefit. –  Apr 23 '17 at 20:12
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    @alephzero this is extremely useful feedback! I have frequently used the phrase "happy to help" to indicate that ... well, that I am happy to help. It's sad that my recipients may have thought it is insincere. – alexsome Apr 24 '17 at 10:12
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None of the above. Comments are not supposed to say thank you or anything in return.

Comments are not recommended for any of the following:

  • Compliments which do not add new information ("+1, great answer!"); instead, up-vote it and pay it forward;

Source: https://stackoverflow.com/help/privileges/comment

Edit: Comments are not for extended discussion either.

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leymannx
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    You're correct, but in the context of ELL, the other answers are more fitting - the responses are not limited to SO. This is a good comment for the OP. – JPhil Apr 20 '17 at 19:15
  • Right: Don't say "thank you" and don't reply if someone does say "thank you". Both of these should be flagged as "Too chatty" and will be summarily deleted by moderators – Bohemian Apr 21 '17 at 21:42
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    @Bohemian: What I do sometimes if I feel that a thank you is warranted (e.g. they went out of their way to accommodate my perhaps unreasonable request, such as provide something tangentially related to the answer) is say thank you, then come back a few days later after they've had a chance to see it and delete the comment. Both missions of sincere expression of thanks and reduced clutter are accomplished. –  Apr 22 '17 at 15:40
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    @FighterJet don't do that; that's not what comments are for. Comments are for clarification. If you really want to thank someone, award a bounty. – Bohemian Apr 22 '17 at 15:45
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    @Bohemian: Technically, by your definition, I should never have made the request then, but I don't see it as a problem. And what if the answer doesn't warrant an up-vote or a bounty? "something tangentially related to the request" usually means something like a link to a high-res version of an image used in the answer that I want for other reasons, even if the answer is not great. I don't see why you're complaining, because I delete them after a few days, and it's not like this happens very often. –  Apr 22 '17 at 16:30
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    @FighterJet if you're asking for "more", that's a kind of clarification. If it's outside the scope of the original question, you should ask a new question. Don't use comments to ask questions, thanks/you're-welcome or other "conversational" content, or extended discussion. – Bohemian Apr 22 '17 at 16:59
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    @Bohe: Here is a specific example. I don't believe the picture is good for small sizes in the header so I didn't upvote it, but I thought the picture would make a great desktop background. So I asked for a larger version, he complied, and I said "Hey, thanks!", which I have now deleted. What's the problem? –  Apr 22 '17 at 19:53
  • @FighterJet please read this – Bohemian Apr 22 '17 at 20:20
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    A good answer to the context of the question — if it were posted on Meta. As for here, let us take it to concern the broader question of how to reply to a compliment or the like. – can-ned_food Apr 23 '17 at 21:42
  • @FighterJet please note the tooltip which you get when you hover an upvote button: "This answer is useful". So it's quite wrong to say thanks but not upvote a useful answer. – Ruslan Apr 24 '17 at 17:34
  • @Ruslan, the thanks wasn't for the answer, it was for them complying with my request to post a link to a hi-res version of the image. But this discussion is getting off-topic. –  Apr 24 '17 at 21:52
5

Your responses #1, #3, and #4 are entirely appropriate since you're answering directly to an individual.

#2 might be more for a general or bigger audience/community.

Depending on what the original question was

Glad I could help. Good luck!

may also be appropriate.

Peter
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1

When people thank me I usually say:

You're welcome, glad it helped. By the way thanks are immaterial in the Stack Exchange sites, so you can vote on or accept my answer if you find it useful.

By saying so you also have the chance to get an upvote.

Nathan Tuggy
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nawdeh naw
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