How to say thank you in Italian

Learn how to say thank you in Italian in informal and formal situations in Italy or Italian speaking settings.

Learning to say thank you in Italian is easy and it will go a long way to make people warm to you in Italy.

Italians do not expect foreigners to have fluency in Italian so when a small effort is made, we are particularly grateful and appreciative!

To say thank you in Italian you say grazie (gr-ah-tzee-eh). Let’s see how it is used in practice.

Top tip! You can hear how we pronounce ‘grazie’ in italian here (click on the little voice icon under the word, at the top of google results)

Italian words for thank you

Grazie	Thank you
Grazie mille	Thank you very much
Grazie infinite	Thanks a million
Grazie caro / grazie cara	Thank you dear (to male/to female)
Grazie di cuore	Thank you from the bottom of my heart
Grazie di tutto	Thank you for everything

8 ways to say thank you in Italian

In conversation, you can say ‘thank you’ in Italian in the following ways.

Thank you in Italian = Grazie

Thank you very much in Italian = Grazie mille (lit. thank you one thousands)

Thanks = grazie

Thank u = grazie. In Italian, there is no difference between the formal and informal way to spell ‘thank you’. We always spell ‘grazie’ fully

Thanks a million = grazie mille / grazie infinite (lit. infinite thanks)

Many thanks = grazie mille

Thank you my dear = grazie caro (to a male)/ Grazie cara )to a female. This is used between friends however, it has become rather popular also as an informal way to say thank you for instance when taking an order at a restaurant.

I would recommend avoiding using ‘grazie caro’ with anyone who is not indeed ‘dear’ to you. If used the wrong way, it may be perceived as too informal and possibly patronizing: grazie or grazie mille is your best bet!

Thank you my friend = grazie caro/a. ‘Friend’ is ‘amico/a’ in Italian however, we don’t really use the expression ‘grazie amico’. Instead, it is rather common to use the generic expression grazie caro or grazie cara, which means thank you dear.

Formal ways to say thank you in Italian

Grazie is a passpartout word but you can also use more formal ways to express thanks in Italian.

You may come across and use:

Ti ringrazio = I thank you

La ringrazio = I thank you (formal)

Vi ringrazio = I thank you (very formal or used when addressing multiple people at once)

Le sarei grata se = I’d be grateful if you could… This is a formal and difficult one to master as it then requires the use of the Italian subjunctive, which is not easy to learn!

When to day grazie in Italian: examples

The best way to express gratitude in Italian is to add the word ‘grazie’ at the end of your sentence. Some examples are:

Example 1:

Q. Posso offrirti un caffe’ (Lit: can I offer you a coffee)

A. Si, grazie (yes please) or No, grazie (no, thank you)

Example 2:

Waiter brings your order, you say: grazie, or grazie mille

Example 3:

Your host went above and beyond and you want to say how grateful you are. You can say:

Grazie di cuore per tutto = thank you about everything, from the bottom of my heart

Grazie di tutto = thank you for everything

Vi ringrazio tanto di tutto = I thank you a lot for everything

Grazie tante: how NOT to say thank you in Italian

One tricky expression, when learning how to say thank you in Italian, is the expression ‘grazie tante’.

At first glance and if we stick with its literal meaning, it may seem that grazie tante means many thanks, however, it doesn’t!

Grazie tante is most commonly used in an ironic or negative way to say ‘thank you for nothing’ (ie: you did nothing I should thank you for) or also ‘thank you for stating the obvious’.

In most cases, it is just easier not to use this expression unless you are confident enough with your Italian to read the situation right!

I hope you enjoyed this quick overview on how to express gratitude in Italian. Grazie dell’attenzione (thank you for your attention!)