In French, to express thank you for, you will use merci followed by either de or pour.
Here are the different cases:
Merci pour votre compréhension.
Thank you for your understanding.
Merci de votre compréhension.
Thank you for your understanding.
To express thank you for + [noun], you can use either merci de or merci pour + [nom], although:
By the way, the expression Merci du cadeau ! is sarcastic in French = What a gift! / Talk about a gift!
In French, you can use merci de + [infinitif] to express Please + [do something] in a formal/professional context.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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!
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?
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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 duMerci 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!
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!
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!
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 duDon't have an account yet? Join today
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".
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).
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.
The English is a bit imprecise. I interpreted as "colloquial" meaning "used in spoken French", irrespective of register.
-- Chris.
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".
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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?
Hi David,
You could say:
"Merci de venir à l'heure les gars! = "Please come on time guys!"
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?
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?
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