I got my response from your own site: Merci de votre attention, which you can see below, and yet I’m marked wrong. What’s the deal this time?
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.
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...)
- 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 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
Examples and resources
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.
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.
Q&A Forum 8 questions, 16 answers
Hi Liz,
You need to use the Report It button on your correction board for these kinds of queries as they will link to the specific quiz and can be addressed better that way.
Liz asked:View original
Thank you for listening
I got my response from your own site: Merci de votre attention, which you can see below, and yet I’m marked wrong. What’s the deal this time?
Don't have an account yet? Join today
LizKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Merci pour?
What is wrong with merci pour votre attention meaning thanks for listening? I thought this was widely used. Thanks.
Asked 3 months ago
Hi Liz,
The Académie française makes the following distinctions -
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! = Thanks for the chocolate!
Merci pour le cadeau! = Thanks for the gift!
Merci pour les fleurs! = Thanks for the flowers!
But you will sometimes hear 'pour' used instead of 'de' with abstract nouns and I think this is the case here.
Hope this helps!
Liz asked:View original
Merci pour?
What is wrong with merci pour votre attention meaning thanks for listening? I thought this was widely used. Thanks.
Don't have an account yet? Join today
DerekKwiziq 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 months ago
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!
Don't have an account yet? Join today
RobertKwiziq 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 5 months ago
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!
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?
Don't have an account yet? Join today
MaxKwiziq 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 duAsked 1 year ago
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!
MaxKwiziq 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.
MaxKwiziq 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!
MaxKwiziq 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!
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 duDon't have an account yet? Join today
Tom 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
Chris 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).
Tom 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.
Alan Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
It's hard to believe either of these are "colloquial". I wonder if it should be "idiomatic"?
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
The English is a bit imprecise. I interpreted as "colloquial" meaning "used in spoken French", irrespective of register.
-- Chris.
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".
Don't have an account yet? Join today
DavidKwiziq 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
Hi David,
You could say:
"Merci de venir à l'heure les gars! = "Please come on time guys!"
DavidKwiziq 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?
MaxKwiziq 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....
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?
Don't have an account yet? Join today
BrittanyKwiziq community member
Marche-t-il pour le négatif? Par exemple: "Merci de ne parler pas pendant la présentation."
Asked 2 years ago
Bonjour Brittany !
Yes indeed, however note that negation after a preposition will come as follows:
Thanks to you, I've now added this case to the lesson :)
À bientôt !
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 !
Brittany asked:View original
Marche-t-il pour le négatif? Par exemple: "Merci de ne parler pas pendant la présentation."
Don't have an account yet? Join today
