Sometimes you just need a quick and easy way to let someone know that you appreciate their efforts. The phrase “many thanks” is an excellent option for expressing your gratitude in a meaningful way that isn’t over-the-top.
It is correct to say “many thanks” when you express that you are grateful for something someone else has done for you. The word “many” functions as a determiner to indicate quantity in this phrase. When you say “many thanks,” you are communicating that you feel a lot of appreciation for someone.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at this helpful phrase and how you can use it in your day-to-day life.
What Does “Many Thanks” Mean?
“Many thanks” means you feel a lot of appreciation for something or someone. When you use this phrase, you are telling someone that you are very grateful for what they have done without using too much emphasis or emotion.
In the phrase “many thanks,” we use the determiner “many” to clarify the quantity of gratitude we wish to express. In English, determiners provide information about a noun or a noun phrase that follows (source).
Within “many thanks,” the word “thanks” operates as a noun. Therefore, by adding “many” before “thanks,” we communicate that we feel much gratitude or appreciation towards someone.
We can use the phrase “many thanks” to let someone know we feel a lot of appreciation for what they did, are doing, or will do. However, this phrase does not carry the depth of emotion we find in other more elaborate expressions of gratitude, such as “thank you so much.”
How Do You Use “Many Thanks”?
You can use “many thanks” when you wish to let someone know you feel a lot of gratitude towards them but don’t want to use too much emotion. One of the ways we do this is by using “many thanks” as a minor sentence.
We can think of expressions of gratitude as being on a scale. On one end, we have short, casual expressions of gratitude. We use these to be polite and express appreciation in a quick manner.
On the other end, we have deep, heartfelt gratitude. We use expressions of gratitude like “I truly appreciate you” to express that we are incredibly grateful and emotionally touched.
When you use “many thanks,” you are tapping into the middle of this spectrum. You are saying, “I thank you a lot,” or “I feel a lot of gratitude towards you,” without using too much emotion. “Many thanks” is an excellent middle ground for expressions of gratitude.
You can use this phrase verbally or in writing. For example, in a written context, we can use “many thanks” as a closing to an email, letter, or other correspondence.
“Many thanks” as a Minor Sentence
“Many thanks” is a minor sentence, so the phrase can stand independently without following the traditional grammar rules that govern complete sentences.
A complete sentence must have a subject and a verb, yet, this rule does not apply to minor sentences. Because of this, you can use “many thanks” as its own sentence. We often say “many thanks” in response to someone. You can see this in the following sample conversation:
- Person A: I took your luggage upstairs.
- Person B: Many thanks!
When Can You Use “Many Thanks”?
You can use “many thanks” to tell someone that you appreciate something they did, are doing, or will do. That is, you can use this phrase to refer to past, present, or future events.
Sometimes we need to thank someone for something that they already did. For example, if your coworker took care of a task for you in the days or weeks prior, you might say “many thanks” when discussing what they did for you. This could look like the following examples:
- I saw that you printed all of those files for me yesterday. Many thanks.
- Many thanks for taking care of that meeting last week.
- I loved the coffee you got me this morning. Many thanks!
We can also use “many thanks” to refer to something going on in the present. Take a look at these examples:
- It’s such a big help to have you on my team. Many thanks for all that you do.
- Many thanks for this tutorial. It will help me a lot going forward.
- Many thanks for taking on this project with me!
In other circumstances, we might want to thank someone for something that has not happened yet. You can see what this might look like in these examples:
- Many thanks for agreeing to help me out next week.
- I’ll plan to see you at the airport on Thursday. Many thanks!
- So, you’ll have that report done by tomorrow morning? Many thanks.
In summation, you can use the phrase “many thanks” with flexibility when it comes to verb tenses. For example, you can accurately use this phrase to thank someone for something they did in the past, something they are doing in the present, or something they will do in the future.
In What Context Can You Use “Many Thanks”?
“Many thanks” expresses a medium level of gratitude compared to the other thankful expressions in English. Therefore, you should use this phrase in contexts that require a medium level of emphasis on how grateful you are.
We use “many thanks” in both formal and informal settings. You will want to select this phrase when a more causal “thanks” will not be enough to express how grateful you feel.
Remember, “many thanks” means “a lot of thanks” or “a lot of gratitude.” Because of this, “many thanks” is more emphatic than a simple “thanks” or “thank you.”
“Many thanks” is also a good choice when you don’t want to be over the top with your expression of gratitude. Some situations are inappropriate for expressing profound, heartfelt thanks: “I am beyond grateful for you holding the door. Thank you so much!”
But, when you wish to say, “I’m really thankful,” without deep, heartfelt emotion, “many thanks” is a good alternative.
You can use “many thanks” when talking to a family member, friend, or superior. This phrase works in informal and formal settings, but you must be mindful of the emotional intensity you wish to convey.
Depending on the formal setting, it might not be appropriate to use a highly emotional expression of gratitude; however, “many thanks” doesn’t fit under that category and would still be okay for you to use.
Using “Many Thanks” in a Full Sentence
When we use “many thanks” in a full sentence, we usually begin the sentence with “many thanks” and then follow up with the word “for.” After this, we briefly state what we are thankful for.
You can see this sentence structure illustrated in the examples below:
- Many thanks for picking me up today.
- Many thanks for bringing that delicious salad to the potluck.
- Many thanks for helping me fix my car.
- Many thanks for taking care of my cat while I am on vacation.
- Many thanks for respecting my privacy.
- Many thanks for helping me with my homework.
- Many thanks for cooking dinner tonight.
- Many thanks for your visit today.
- Many thanks for paying for lunch.
- Many thanks for coming over today.
Each of these sentences begins with “Many thanks for.” Then, they conclude with a brief description of what the speaker is thankful for. Typically, this is a favor that someone did for them.
Apart from this sentence structure, we can also use “many thanks” as a minor sentence on its own. We cover this in more depth in the “Expressions of Gratitude as Minor Sentences section.”
When we use “many thanks” as a minor sentence, we usually reverse the sentence order, starting with a description of what we are thankful for and ending with “many thanks” in a separate sentence. Here are two quick examples:
- You did me a huge favor by taking over the project. Many thanks.
- That was a big help. Many thanks!
Since we included “many thanks” as a minor sentence at the end, we do not need the word “for” to connect “many thanks” to the descriptive tag.
When Not to Use “Many Thanks”
You’ll want to avoid using “many thanks” when you wish to express less gratitude for more minor favors or when you wish to convey more profound gratitude for more significant favors.
Since “many thanks” implies that you are giving a lot of thanks, it’s not the best choice for minor favors that aren’t that big of a deal. For example, if a server at a restaurant drops off your check at the table, it would be better to simply say “thanks.”
In this circumstance, the server is just doing their job. It is polite to say “thanks” or “thank you” when a server leaves you the check, but saying “many thanks” wouldn’t be the best option.
On the other hand, if you wish to express deep gratitude, you might want to use a more potent phrase than “many thanks,” which can come off as too casual for serious situations.
What Can You Use Instead of “Many Thanks”?
If you are looking for some alternative phrases for “many thanks,” you have a lot of different expressions of gratitude to choose from.
For minor favors, or quick casual expressions of gratitude, you can use “Thanks!” or “Thank you!”
To express deep gratitude, you can use “Thank you so much,” “I am so grateful for that,” or “I greatly appreciate it.”
For circumstances that fall in between these two ends of the spectrum, you can use “Thanks a lot” or “Many thanks.” These expressions are not too casual or emphatic, so they are a good fit for times when you need to express a medium level of gratitude.
To learn more about some of these alternative phrases, check out our articles Is It Correct to Say “Thanks a Lot?” and Is It Correct to Say “Thanks a Ton”?
Expressions of Gratitude as Minor Sentences
In English, we often use expressions of gratitude as minor sentences. Minor sentences lack grammatical completeness, but they still operate as stand-alone sentences (source).
“Many thanks” is an excellent example of a minor sentence because we can use “many thanks” as a complete sentence, even though it is not technically grammatically complete as it lacks a subject and a verb.
The official grammatical rule for a complete sentence is that it has a subject and a verb (source). However, we do not follow this rule when it comes to minor sentences. Even still, minor sentences convey clear and complete meaning.
When you use “Many thanks” as a minor sentence, your audience will not be confused or feel there is missing information. This minor sentence does not require a subject and verb combination to make logical sense because the context in which you use it provides meaning.
Here are some other examples of minor sentences:
- Thank you so much!
- Thanks.
- Agreed.
- You’re welcome.
- Sounds good.
- Happy birthday!
- No problem.
- Good morning.
- Good night.
- One more lap!
We do not find a complete subject and verb combination in these examples. Despite this, they can each function as sentences on their own. While this may seem confusing, you must remember that not all grammar rules are set in stone.
This article was written for strategiesforparents.com.
One of the challenges of learning to speak English like a native is knowing when you can break a grammatical rule and when you can’t. For example, in the case of minor sentences, we break the traditional grammatical rule that a complete sentence needs a subject and a verb.
Final Thoughts
There are so many different expressions of gratitude in English. This is great because you have many options and can choose which is best for any given situation. However, knowing which expression of appreciation is most appropriate can be tricky.
When deciding how you want to express your gratitude, think of the depth of emotion you wish to express. If you wish to convey little to no emotion, “thanks” is a good choice. If you want to emphasize that you are very grateful without using much emotion, you can go with “many thanks.”