Stop Always Saying “Hvala”

 

In the daily life of Serbo-Croatian speakers, there are different ways to express gratitude, not only by saying “hvala.” Let’s go find out more.

Introduction.

Practicing gratitude has incredible effects, from improving our mental health to boosting our relationships with others. So, it would be interesting to handle different options to express gratitude depending on the context beyond "hvala."

4 Formulas.

• Neutral formulas.
• Formal formulas.
• Informal formulas.
• Original formulas.

Neutral formulas.

The most classic formula is, of course, ‘hvala - thanks’ quite simply. But we can complete this word with others to give it more emphasis. Any of these options can be used in formal or informal contexts.

• Hvala puno(mnogo) - Thank you so much.
• Hvala puno - Thank you very much. Thanks a lot.
• Beskrajno hvala - endless thanks
• Hvala puno - Thank you for everything 

Informal formulas.

There are different ways to thank (zahvaliti se) someone in more informal language. 

The pronoun ‘te’ in the following formulas is optional, but it is highly recommended for emphasizing to whom we are expressing gratitude.

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• Hvala do neba - Thanks a bunch.
• Zahvalan/zahvalna sam ti - I’m grateful.
• Zahvaljujem ti se na izdvojenom vremenu - I appreciate your time.
• Zahvaljujem ti se na ljubaznosti - I thank you for your kindness
• Cenim to  - I appreciate it.
• Zahvaljujem ti se od sveg srca - I thank you with all my heart.
• Tvoj sam dužnik - I owe you one.
• Zahvaljujem ti - I thank you

Formal formulas.

The above informal formulas can be turned into formal treatment by changing the ‘ti’ (tebi) pronoun to ‘Vam’ (Vama) pronoun and the possesive adjective ‘tu’ to ‘su’.

Another issue to bear in mind is when a sentence includes an indirect pronoun ‘le’ and a direct pronoun ‘lo’, because of phonetic troubles, we change the pronoun ‘le’ to ‘se’.  

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• Zahvaljujem Vam - I’m grateful.
• Beskrajno sam Vam zahvalan/zahvalna - I am eternally grateful.
• Zahvaljujem Vam na izdvojenom vremenu - I appreciate your time.
• Zahvaljuem Vam na ljubaznosti- I thank you for your kindness.
• Cenim to  - I appreciate it.
• Zahvaljujem Vam od sveg srca - I thank you with all my heart.
• Unapred zahvalan/zahvalna - Thanks in advance.
• Iskreno sam Vam zahvalan/zahvalna - Sincerely grateful.
• Molim Vas, primite moju najiskreniju zahvalnost - Please accept my sincerest gratitude.
• Zaista cenim Vaše vreme - I really appreciate your time.

Original formulas.

The formulas in this section can vary a lot, depending on the speaker's creativity and the Serbo-Croatian -speaking country. In Serbian, the most used colloquial expressions in informal situations are the following:

• Pravi si anđeo - I’m grateful.
• Ti si jedno veliko srce - You are a big heart
• Ti si divan/divna - you are lovely
• Nemam reči kojima bih mogao/mogla da izrazim svoju zahvalnost - I have no words to express my gratitude.
• Ti si moj spasilac. Hvala puno! - You are my saver. Thank you very much!
• Hvala. Najjači (m.s.) / Najjača (f.s.) si! Najbolji (m.s) / Najbolja si (f.s.) ! - Thank you. You are the best!
• Šta bih ja bez tebe/Vas! - What would I do without you! 
• večito zahvalan/zahvalna - Forever grateful.

Finally, how do you respond to a “gracias” in Serbo/Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin language? 

There are many different options. The most well-known form of courtesy used in response to "hvala" is "molim." This is the most basic phrase. In English it corresponds to the expression “you are welcome.”

It is possible to answer something completely different! For example, "Nema na čemu" - not at all or "ništa" literally “nothing” which is often used in everyday language. This is also the case with the adverbial phrase “sa zadovoljstvom” literally “with pleasure.” It is another one of the expressions to thank in Serbian/Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin.

Sometimes after being thanked, we can answer “Hvala tebi” informal or “Hvala” formal treatment, literally “It is I who thank you!” It is a formula often used when the situation is beneficial for each other.

Let’s see some real situations:

Situation 1. Informal (tebi/ti) and formal (Vam/Vama) speech.

A- Hvala na pomoći. Bilo mi je zadovoljstvo raditi s tobom/s Vama.

  Thank you very much for the help. It has been a pleasure working with you.

B- Molim, zadovoljstvo je bilo moje.

 You are welcome. The pleasure has been all mine. 

Situation 2. Informal (tebi/ti) and formal (Vam/Vama) speech.

A- Veoma sam ti/Vam zahvalna na podršci.

  I am very grateful for the support.

B- Nema na čemu.

Don’t mention it. 

Do you know other ways to express and respond to a gratitude formula?

Feel free to leave them in the comment below. I’ll be glad to read them.

I hope the article has helped you to enhance your list of speaking options for sounding like a native Spanish speaker. 

If you want to practice this topic deeper, or any other one, let's go to start an iTalki classroom. I am more than happy to help you.

Thanks for reading the article.