How Can I Thank You Enough?

Благодарить (to thank) is one of the Russian language’s most beautiful words. If you take it apart, it is дарить благо (to give the gift of a blessing), which is, you must agree, a remarkable way to thank someone.

Another beautiful word is спасибо (thank you), which is a conflation of спаси Бог (may God save you), which is also, you must agree, another remarkable way to thank someone.

That said, if you look at Russian folklore, over the ages the people who lived on Russian lands were a bit jaded about thank you’s. On the one hand: Великое слово: спасибо. (Thank you is a majestic word.) On the other hand: Спасибо за пазуху не положишь. (“Thank you” can’t feed the family, literally “you can’t put ‘thanks’ in your pocket.”)

In contemporary Russian there are basically three main words for expressing gratitude. Спасибо is the all-purpose thanks, sometimes now abbreviated to пасибо or пасиб, a teenage thing that caught on in some slangy circles. Or you can go the other direction and add a lot of syllables to get спасибочки (thankyouthankyou). This can have a teenybopper or rural ring to it, as in: Спасибо за доверие, большущенькие спасибочки, Мамочка! (Thank you for trusting me, super-duper humongous thanks a million, Mommy!)

The word благодарить can be more heart-felt. Каждый день благодарю маму. (Every day I thank my mother.)  Or it can be more conventional — like what they say at the end of a film: Редакция благодарит яхт-клуб "Водник" за помощь в организации съёмки. (The production team would like to thank the Vodnik yacht club for help with the filming.) Or it can be more ceremonial: Я и мои товарищи сердечно благодарим за гостеприимство. (My comrades and I sincerely thank you for your hospitality.)

Even more formal is the adjective признательный (grateful). You don’t hear it much in the home — except as a joke — but you will hear it in offices and at public events. There is one little trick with this word. Признательный is derived from the verb признать (to recognize, acknowledge) and goes in two opposite directions. One meaning is to acknowledge something good, i.e., appreciate it: Я очень признательна за помощь. (I really appreciate your help.) But it can go the other way and be an admission of guilt: Он давал признательные показания (He confessed, e.g., he gave an acknowledgement [of guilt]). Not something you want to mix up.

But although Russian speakers have only these few words for thanks, they are very creative in expressing it. They might say they’ll never forget a kindness: Я этого никогда не забуду. (I’ll never forget this.) Or they happily take on the burden of obligation: Я ваш должник. (I’ll be in your debt.) Я очень обязан. (I’m much obliged.) С меня причитается. (I owe you one.)

Or grateful people might highlight the kindness that was done: Вы меня выручили. (You came through for me.) Вы мне очень помогли. (You really helped me.) And they use words to say that they’ve run out of words: Тысячи слов “Спасибо!”не хватит, чтобы выразить, насколько я тебе благодарен. (A thousand “Thank you’s” aren’t enough to express how grateful I am to you.) Благодарность не передать словами. (I don’t have the words to tell you how grateful I am.)

But if you say that to a government official who replies “Я скажу, как отблагодарить” (I’ll tell you how to thank me!) — run. That kind of thanks is expressed in an envelope filled with cash.