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Should there be a comma after "no" in "no thank you"?

Would you like some coffee?

No thank you.

Community
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Kimmyt63
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    Of course ! ! ! – Blessed Geek Sep 04 '15 at 13:30
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    I understand why you ask the question, but a comma is seldom placed there. The expression no thank you is so common that it is treated as a conjoined idiom. The only time a comma would be necessary, would be if the author wished to indicate a specific pause. – WS2 Sep 04 '15 at 13:33
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    Or it's a manga title. – Peter K. Sep 04 '15 at 14:09
  • I believe the comma should remain because it is still marking an unstated conjunction: "No, but thank you." – Psycholinguist May 19 '17 at 15:04
  • If the text is representing spoken dialogue, there's a case to be made for each variation. "No thank you," is the most casual: someone offers you a bowl of stale popcorn. "No, thank you," is a more thoughtful response: someone offers you a bowl of buffalo wings, but you're off to a formal dinner. "No. Thank you," is an offended response: someone offers you a bowl of shit. – Zan700 Apr 25 '22 at 21:08

7 Answers7

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I see there are two comments and I read them as being somewhat contradictory. Therefore I'll give an answer. If we are reporting dialog then there are several options, here are three.

  1. "No thank you."

  2. "No, thank you."

  3. "No. Thank you."

The first, as indicated by WS2, is an idiom and is spoken smoothly without a pause.

The second indicates a minor pause.

The third indicates a more pronounced pause with the 'Thank you' possibly coming as an afterthought.

chasly - supports Monica
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Six answers so far and no reference to a dictionary...

no, thank you and no, thanks
a phrase used to decline something. Bob: Would you care for some more coffee? Mary: No, thank you. John: Do you want to go downtown tonight? Jane: No, thanks.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

thank you
2.a. used with ‘no’ for politely refusing something that is offered to you
‘Another glass of wine?’ ‘No, thank you.’

Macmillan Dictionary

michael.hor257k
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  • It seems to defeat the purpose of an idiom for it to only mean the sum of its constituent parts. "No thank you" is the idiom, not "No, thank you". – user84614 Apr 25 '22 at 16:52
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There's also another less used version of "No, thank you" where the meaning is basically, "You shouldn't be thanking me, I should be thanking you". For example, in the conversation below Ted is saying that he should be thanking Bill, not the other way around.

Bill: "Thank you for driving me to the airport."

Ted: "No, thank you. I needed an excuse to get out of helping my dad move furniture all day."

user84614
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Camden Bassett
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In written form I personally would use the comma, even if it is commonly pronounced as though there were no comma. I like to set the No off from the rest of the utterance, to distinguish from sentences like this one:

No thank-you letter ever arrived.

But as you can tell from the variety of answers you've received, you might as well toss a coin.

aparente001
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It depends on what type of tone you wish to convey with your response. Even if the idiom "No thank you" is commonly used, it's much less polite. It suggests "I'm not thanking you" or "No thank you for you." If you don't have a problem with the questioner interpreting your response that way, then it's okay to leave the comma out. Otherwise, it should be included.

John Smith
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    Why the down vote? – John Smith Sep 04 '15 at 21:31
  • I agree that it's less polite, but mainly because the thank you seems reflexive and insincere. It's such a common idiom that no one would be confused by the words themselves. It might be possible that a hostile person might suggest that meaning with their tone while using the common meaning of the phrase as a cover for themselves, but it's more likely that they would say it with deliberate glibness to show that they don't mean it. – user84614 Apr 25 '22 at 16:44
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I believe so because even though there is no conjunction there (because those who speak the English language are lazy, so we tend to drop said conjunction), it is still important to at least mark the spot where one should have been. For example: No, but thank you

user451421
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  • It seems to be a question of whether or not it is a conjunction to begin with. "No, but thank you" is a new variant. – Joachim Apr 26 '22 at 18:12
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I think it is important in answering the question what the intent of the speaker meant. Consider that I respectfully decline your kind offer -- I might say "No. Thank you". Consider that I am a serial killer on the execution gurney asked if I had any last statement and the effect of the statement "No thank you."

There IS in my opinion a distinct difference in the intent and tone, and as such the punctuation should be different. "No. Thank you" to me implies a courteous declination of the offer AND the person declining cares about the person offering. On the other hand, "No thank you" seems to me to be more of a declination with no regard to care of anyone else -- rather it is a curt reply said for no other reason except to have the last word.

Jim Leatherman
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