Merci de / pour = Thank you for

In: Level B2, Prepositions & Conjunctions, Préposition, Slang/Expression/Highly Idiomatic, Infinitif passé
Questions: 20
In French, to express thank you for, you will use merci followed by either de or pour.
Here are the different cases:

Merci de/pour [quelque chose] = Thank you for [something]

Merci pour votre compréhension.
Thank you for your understanding.

Merci de votre compréhension.
Thank you for your understanding.

Merci pour le cadeau.
Thank you for the gift.

Merci pour le repas.
Thank you for the meal.

To express thank you for + [noun], you can use either merci de or merci pour + [nom], although:

- either de or pour is colloquial with abstract nouns (votre compréhension, patience, gentillesse...), with merci de being a bit more elegant.

- merci pour is the one you use with actual things (le cadeau, la carte...)

By the way, the expression Merci du cadeau ! is sarcastic in French = What a gift! / Talk about a gift!


Merci de [faire quelque chose] = Please [do something] / Thank you for [doing something]

In French, you can use merci de + [infinitif] to express Please + [do something] in a formal/professional context.

Merci de patienter.
Please wait.

Merci d'écouter ce qui suit.
Please listen to what follows.

J'ai vraiment du mal, merci de m'aider.
I'm really struggling, please help me.

Merci de ne pas parler pendant la présentation.
Please do not speak during the presentation.

After a preposition (here de), ne pas both come before the infinitive.

 

ATTENTION :

To express Thank you for + [do-ing] - when you're thanking the person for an action already done - you will use Merci de + [Infinitif Passé] : 

C'était très difficile, merci de m'avoir aidée.
It was very hard, thanks for helping me.

Mes amis, merci à tous d'être venus.
My friends, thank you all for coming.

Sarah, merci d'être venue.
Sarah, thanks for coming.

Paul, merci d'être venu.
Paul, thanks for coming.

Merci d'avoir fait ce gâteau, il était délicieux.
Thanks for making this cake, it was delicious.

 

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Préposition

Slang/Expression/Highly Idiomatic

Infinitif passé

Examples and resources

Sarah, merci d'être venue.
Sarah, thanks for coming.

Merci de votre compréhension.
Thank you for your understanding.

Merci de patienter.
Please wait.

Mes amis, merci à tous d'être venus.
My friends, thank you all for coming.

Merci pour votre compréhension.
Thank you for your understanding.

Merci d'écouter ce qui suit.
Please listen to what follows.

Paul, merci d'être venu.
Paul, thanks for coming.

Merci d'avoir fait ce gâteau, il était délicieux.
Thanks for making this cake, it was delicious.

Merci pour le repas.
Thank you for the meal.

Merci de ne pas parler pendant la présentation.
Please do not speak during the presentation.

C'était très difficile, merci de m'avoir aidée.
It was very hard, thanks for helping me.

Merci pour le cadeau.
Thank you for the gift.

J'ai vraiment du mal, merci de m'aider.
I'm really struggling, please help me.

Q&A Forum 6 questions, 14 answers

Ask question
DerekC1Kwiziq community member

Exceptions to merci de + infinitive as "please .... " construction

Someone presented the example, "merci de m'aimer" which I believe means, "please love me" rather than "thanks for loving me" and directed them to this lesson. However, "merci de m'avoir aimé" doesn't, in my mind, capture the sense of "thanks for loving me" as an ongoing action/effect.  After digging further, I found some texts such as, "merci de m'aimer autant" and "merci de m'aimer" on reverso. I'd like to test my instinct and the found examples. Is this an exception where the construction will retain the sense of thanks rather than a polite request, due to context, or are these examples incorrect?

Tangential follow up question: I understand "du cadeau" will be interpreted sarcastically, but is this only for physical gifts? For example, I have found a bit of text with "merci du cadeau de ta présence". Does the modification into a more conceptual gift change meaning, or is this simply incorrect, wanting instead, "merci pour le cadeau de..."?

Merci de m'éclairer! 

Asked 3 days ago
Like0Answer0
Share
Derek asked:View original

Exceptions to merci de + infinitive as "please .... " construction

Someone presented the example, "merci de m'aimer" which I believe means, "please love me" rather than "thanks for loving me" and directed them to this lesson. However, "merci de m'avoir aimé" doesn't, in my mind, capture the sense of "thanks for loving me" as an ongoing action/effect.  After digging further, I found some texts such as, "merci de m'aimer autant" and "merci de m'aimer" on reverso. I'd like to test my instinct and the found examples. Is this an exception where the construction will retain the sense of thanks rather than a polite request, due to context, or are these examples incorrect?

Tangential follow up question: I understand "du cadeau" will be interpreted sarcastically, but is this only for physical gifts? For example, I have found a bit of text with "merci du cadeau de ta présence". Does the modification into a more conceptual gift change meaning, or is this simply incorrect, wanting instead, "merci pour le cadeau de..."?

Merci de m'éclairer! 

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

RobertC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Past participle agreement with avoir

In the example, for actions already done, using the infinitive Passé:  "C'était très difficile, merci de m'avoir aidée."  It appears the usage demands an agreement (if the speaker in the case was female.)  Would it always be the case that agreement should be made?  

  

Asked 2 months ago
Like0Answer1
Share
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Robert,

Yes, it would, following the same rules of agreement of the past participle with avoir -

e.g.

Merci de nous avoir aidés/ées 

if the object precedes avoir

but,

Merci d'avoir aidé mes parents le weekend dernier

if it comes after avoir.

Hope this helps!

Like22 months ago
Share
Robert asked:View original

Past participle agreement with avoir

In the example, for actions already done, using the infinitive Passé:  "C'était très difficile, merci de m'avoir aidée."  It appears the usage demands an agreement (if the speaker in the case was female.)  Would it always be the case that agreement should be made?  

  

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

MaxC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

merci de v. merci pour le/la/les,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I answered "merci du" in this question but was marked incorrect when in face the lesson states an equivalence between the two. Please explain.....

5________ cadeau, je l'aime beaucoup.Thank you for the gift, I like it a lot.Merci pour leMerci du
Asked 1 year ago
Like0Answer4
Share
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Merci de/pour votre question, Max!

This is a tricky one to explain. You would never say "merci du cadeau" but "merci pour le cadeau".

To simplify things and according to the Académie française :

Use Merci de 

1. When it is followed by a verb in the infinitive ( present or past)

Merci de m'avoir invité/e! = Thanks for inviting me! 

Merci de venir à 16 heures pile. = Please come at 4 pm on the dot.

2. With  abstract nouns 

Merci de votre attention! = Thank you for listening!

Merci de votre aide! = Thank you for your help!

Merci de votre obligeance! = Thank you for obliging me!

Use Merci pour with concrete nouns 

Merci pour les chocolats!

Merci pour le cadeau! 

Merci pour les fleurs!

This is the same if you use the verb remercier (to say thank you)

Hope this helps!

Like01 year ago
Share
MaxC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Cutting to the chase, use "merci pour" only where there is a concrete item for which you are thanking someone? Very helpful. 
Like01 year ago
Share
MaxC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Ok, however, I see the following in the lesson:

Merci pour votre compréhension.
Thank you for your understanding.

"Votre compréhension" is an abstact rather than concrete noun. Your advice seems to clearly contradict the lesson I have just pasted in. I have no dog in this fight. Either sounds fine to this non-native speaker and there is certainly no loss in meaning. I would be pleased to hear other opinions. I'll try some prescriptivist googling of MERCI DE & MERCI POUR and see what comes up. French is a moving target!

Like01 year ago
Share
MaxC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Reading the lesson further I find "- either de or pour is colloquial with abstract nouns (votre compréhension, patience, gentillesse...), with merci de being a bit more elegant.

- merci pour is the one you use with actual things (le cadeau, la carte...)

That sounds copasetic. While you have contradicted the lesson, I am in thrall to your rule: It just sounds better to this non-native ear.

In any even, the lesson rule might be restated as follows:

Use pour after merci where the thing you are giving thanks for is a concrete object. In all other cases, prefer de for elegance and pour as you wish.

God, I love this language!

Like01 year ago
Share
Max asked:View original

merci de v. merci pour le/la/les,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I answered "merci du" in this question but was marked incorrect when in face the lesson states an equivalence between the two. Please explain.....

5________ cadeau, je l'aime beaucoup.Thank you for the gift, I like it a lot.Merci pour leMerci du

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

TomC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Colloquial vs formal

The lesson states " either de or pour is colloquial with abstract nouns (votre compréhension, patience, gentillesse...), with merci de being a bit more elegant.

I don't get the sense of this statement.

If both are colloquial then what is the formal way of expressing " Thank you for your understanding".

Asked 1 year ago
Like0Answer4
Share
ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Tom, I guess what that means is that either de or pour are used in spoken French with abstract nouns. The use of pour being more colloquial and de being more elegant/formal.

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Like01 year ago
Share
TomC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Of course I get that.

I'm just pointing out the imprecision of the statement. Colloquial use does not equate with the spoken language but is rather a Register within the spoken language.

As far as I am aware a word or phrase cannot possess the duality of being both colloquial and formal.French speech with pour being colloquial and de being formal.

Perhaps I'm just being obtuse, but  as aspiring linguists we should strive for precision in language.

Like01 year ago
Share
AlanC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
It's hard to believe either of these are "colloquial". I wonder if it should be "idiomatic"?
Like01 year ago
Share
ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

The English is a bit imprecise. I interpreted as "colloquial" meaning "used in spoken French", irrespective of register.

-- Chris.

Like01 year ago
Share
Tom asked:View original

Colloquial vs formal

The lesson states " either de or pour is colloquial with abstract nouns (votre compréhension, patience, gentillesse...), with merci de being a bit more elegant.

I don't get the sense of this statement.

If both are colloquial then what is the formal way of expressing " Thank you for your understanding".

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

DavidC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Thanks for coming

The quiz says: ____ les gars! Thanks for coming guys!

The answer is Merci d'etre venus

This is clearly correct in the usual situation where the guys have come and are being thanked for it.

But suppose that the guys had promised to come and were being thanked in advance for it? The same English sentence would work for that situation, even if it would be more explicit if we said "Thanks for agreeing to come, guys". How would the French look in that case?

Asked 1 year ago
Like0Answer3
Share
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi David,

You could say:

"Merci de venir à l'heure les gars! = "Please come on time guys!"

Like01 year ago
Share
DavidC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

That is not quite the same meaning. It has turned a thankyou into a please that even implies doubt as to whether the guys will be on time without a reminder.

I suppose that this would be nearest to the meaning I wanted: "Merci d'avoir accepté de venir, les gars" but all of this assumes that the straightfoward "Merci de venir les gars" is not correct usage. Is that so?

Like01 year ago
Share
MaxC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
When thanking in advance, one says MERCI D'AVANCE  at some point. NSP? Je te remercie d'avance d'avoir fait quoi qu'il en soit....
Like01 year ago
Share
David asked:View original

Thanks for coming

The quiz says: ____ les gars! Thanks for coming guys!

The answer is Merci d'etre venus

This is clearly correct in the usual situation where the guys have come and are being thanked for it.

But suppose that the guys had promised to come and were being thanked in advance for it? The same English sentence would work for that situation, even if it would be more explicit if we said "Thanks for agreeing to come, guys". How would the French look in that case?

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

BrittanyC1Kwiziq community member

Marche-t-il pour le négatif? Par exemple: "Merci de ne parler pas pendant la présentation."

Asked 1 year ago
Like0Answer2
Share
AurélieKwiziq team memberCorrect answer
Bonjour Brittany !

Yes indeed, however note that negation after a preposition will come as follows:
Merci de ne pas parler pendant la présentation.

Thanks to you, I've now added this case to the lesson :)

À bientôt !
Like01 year ago
Share
BrittanyC1Kwiziq community member
Très bien. Merci!
Like01 year ago
Share
Brittany asked:View original

Marche-t-il pour le négatif? Par exemple: "Merci de ne parler pas pendant la présentation."

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level >>

Get some more practice

French listening practice

French reading practice

French speaking practice

French writing practice

French fill-in-the-blanks exercises

Why not share the love?!

Related lessons

I'll be right with you...