How to Say Thank You in Latin

How to Say Thank You in Latin The people of the ancient Roman Empire, who spoke Latin, expressed the concept of thank you in multiple ways. A formal thank you was commonly said as gratias tibi ago.  A less formal thank-you was simply benigne. Thank You in Latin Gratias tibi ago literally means Thanks to you I give.  The singular of gratias is gratia,  which means  gratitude, esteem, obligation. So it makes sense that the plural would mean thanks. If you were thanking more than one person (thanks to you all I give), you would change the singular indirect pronoun tibi  to the plural vobis, like this:  Gratias vobis ago.   If more than one person is thanking someone, the singular verb  ago (I give)  becomes the plural  agimus  (we give):  Gratias tibi/vobis  agimus. The Grammar Behind the Phrase Using the idiom gratias ago  or some equivalent  was the typical way that Latin speakers formally thanked each other. Notice that both forms of you are in the dative case because this pronoun is the indirect object of the verb  ago. Tu is the dative singular form, while the dative plural form is  vobis.  The verb ago  is in the first-person singular present active indicative form. Agimus is the first-person plural. Latin didnt typically use the subject pronoun, thus we dont spell out the first-person  singular nominative pronoun  ego  or the first-person plural nos.  Gratias is in the accusative (direct object of ago) plural form of  gratia, a first-declension feminine noun.   Latin sentences typically follow the subject-object-verb word order, but this can change depending on what the speaker wants to emphasize, with the stressed word coming first. For instance, the usual I give thanks to you would employ the standard gratias tibi ago  order. To emphasize the person being thanked, use tibi/vobis gratias ago. To emphasize the person giving the thanks, use ago gratias tibi/vobis. Expressions Thank you very much. Gratias maximas (tibi ago). /  Gratias ago tibi valde.   Thanks be to God. Deo gratias. Thank you for something. The preferred way to express this is to use the preposition  pro with the noun (ablative case) referring to what youre thanking someone for.  Instead of pro, use propter with the noun as a gerund in the accusative case for a less idiomatic version. Form the  gerund by adding -ndum to the stem. I want to thank you for your kindness.   Gratias tibi propter misericordiam volo. We thank you for good friends. Tibi gratias agimus  pro amicitia. I thank you for food. Tibi gratias ago  pro cibo. We thank you for wine.   Tibi gratias agimus a vino.  Ã‚   Thank you for the gift.   Tibi gratias ago pro dono. Thank someone for something they did:  Ã‚  After pro, use a gerund in the ablative case.   Thank you for saving me. Tibi gratias ago pro me servando. Less Formal Latin for Thank You There are other ways of thanking that are less formal and seem more like the modern English thanks or its equivalents in Romance languages, such as the French  merci. To say thanks or no, thanks, just use the adverb  benigne (generously, kindly). Whether its an acceptance or a polite rejection depends on how you express it. For example: Benigne! Thank you! (Roughly How generous of you or How kind of you) Benigne ades.   Nice of you to come. Benigne dicis.   Nice of you to say so, which is an appropriate way to accept a compliment.   Source The Dative Case. The Ohio State University, Columbus OH.