Thank You vs Thanks
Thank You and Thanks are two expressions that should be used differently for the simple reason there is a difference between thank you and thanks. Both thank you and thanks are actually polite expression used to show our gratitude. Thank you is a noun as well as an exclamation in the English language. If you take a look at the Oxford English dictionary, it says that thanks is another way of saying thank you. There is no difference in the meaning of these two words. However, one could say that there is a difference between the context in which thank you and thanks are used. It is better to use thank you in formal occasions than thanks.
What does Thanks mean?
Thanks is a plural noun and hence it cannot be used with a direct object. It is interesting to note that thanks is often followed by the expression ‘a lot’ as in sentences given below.
I said ‘Thanks a lot.’
Here is a cake for you. – ‘Oh! Thanks a lot.’.
It should be noted that ‘thank’ is a transitive verb and hence is followed by a direct object as in the sentence given below.
Francis thanked Fredrick for his help.
Sometimes thanks is used to refuse something that is offered as in ‘No Thanks’.
What does Thank You mean?
On the other hand, the expression thank you is often followed by ‘very much’ only and not by ‘a lot’.
‘Thank you very much’ is correct whereas ‘thank you a lot’ is not a correct way of expression. Both ‘thank you’ and ‘thanks’ are followed often by ‘for’ and immediately by a gerund (ing). Look at the sentence given below.
He thanked her for going with him to the shop.
In the same way that thanks is used to refuse something, thank you is also used to refuse something that is offered as in ‘No thank you’.
In some cases thank you is used to accept things when they are offered. Francis would say ‘thank you’ to accept when he is offered fruits by Florence who would have said ‘Would you like some more fruits?’
What is the difference between Thank You and Thanks?
• Thanks is a plural noun and hence it cannot be used with a direct object.
• Thanks is often followed by the expression a lot in sentences.
• On the other hand, the expression thank you is often followed by ‘very much’ only and not by ‘a lot’.
• Sometimes thanks is used to refuse something that is offered as in ‘No Thanks’. In the same way thank you is also used to refuse something that is offered as in ‘No thank you’.
• In some cases thank you is used to accept things when they are offered.
• The expression thank you is more formal than thanks.
It is important to know that thank you is the modern form of the older expression ‘I thank you’. Hence, the personal pronoun ‘I’ is always dropped while speaking. Sometimes the word ‘thanks’ is followed by the expression ‘so much’ as in ‘Thanks so much for calling’. At the same time, both the expressions are interchanged these days.
Images Courtesy:
- Thank you by Moeez (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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