Grazie!
Hmm… now what?
You might have the feeling that Italians use a lot of different phrases to answer grazie. You’re right!
The best response to grazie could depend on who you’re speaking to. Is it a formal or informal situation? Or the feeling you want to convey to the other person. A casual “no problem” sounds different to a curt “you’re welcome” in English.
There are a surprising number of ways to acknowledge thanks in Italian. In this article, you’ll learn 7 of the most typical.
Once you’ve mastered them, you’ll know exactly what to say when Italians thank you, and impress with your subtle command of Italian etiquette.
Our first phrase works in any kind of situation. It’s the go-to response to grazie if you’re ever in doubt.
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Prego – what does it really mean in Italian?
Ask an Italian what the best response to grazie is, they’ll probably say: prego. It’s the equivalent of “you’re welcome” and you can use it in any situation.
Imagine you walk into a restaurant and the waiter shows you to your table. You say grazie and they reply: prego.
As you leave the restaurant, you hold the door for your companion. Grazie! – Prego!
It’s a catch-all word which works in the formal, with people you don’t know, and informally, with friends.
But what does prego actually mean? The literal translation is “I pray”, but Italians don’t really think about this when they use it. In everyday communication, it just means “you’re welcome”: the simplest and most common response to grazie.
To really impress when using this phrase, try to pronounce the flicked Italian R. It can be tricky for English speakers, so here’s a little tip to get it right: swap the R for a D and say p-dego. It might sound odd at first, but the “d” sound of p-dego is remarkably close to the Italian flicked R in prego.
Have a go! If you say it fast, you’ll hear the D sound gradually becoming more like the Italian R.
p-dego, p-dego, p-dego, pdego, pdego, pdego, prego, prego, prego!
Now you’re comfortable with prego, perhaps you’re wondering about other ways to answer grazie? Here are five more that native speakers use all the time!
Di niente
If you’ve spent any time in Italy, you’ve surely heard this one! Di niente is a really common, slightly less formal response to grazie.
Imagine you’ve driven out to pick your friend up from the airport as a favour. They jump in the car and say “Grazie!” You could well answer: di niente!
It can be used in more formal situations too, though.
You’ve just given a hotel concierge a generous tip. They say: Grazie! And you reply: Di niente!
Or if the waiter in a restaurant brings you the bill. Grazie! – Di niente!
The only time you won’t hear di niente is in extremely formal situations. For example, a police officer returning your driving license after inspection would be unlikely to reply with di niente. In these cases, it’s best to stick with prego.
Literally this phrase means “of” (di) “nothing” (niente). It’s a bit like saying “it was nothing”, and you can use it to downplay whatever you did that made someone thank you.
To get the pronunciation right, try saying “yeah” between the two Ns of niente.
N – yeah – n – te…. N-yeahn-te… N-yente… niente!
Just like the “i” at the end of grazie – grats-yeah. You can find out more about this by checking our post on the pronunciation of grazie.
As well as di niente, you can say di nulla. This means the same thing: nulla is a synonym of niente, they both mean “nothing”.
So if someone tells you grazie, you could answer di nulla or di niente. They both work in pretty much any context.
Our next phrase however is a little more informal.
E di che!
If you want something slightly more informal than di niente or prego, try e di che. It’s a bit like saying no worries or no problem in response to grazie.
You might use this if you saw a friend struggling under the weight of three bags of shopping. You offer to take one or two for them. They gasp: Grazie!
You reply: E di che!
Or you thank a friend for having you over for dinner:
Grazie di tutto! – Thanks for everything!
E di che! – No problem!
It literally means:
E – and
Di – of
Che – what
You can also say the same expression with ma (but): ma di che!
Keep in mind that your tone is really important here. You want to say it quite forcefully, with a bit of surprise. It has a kind of “oh come on!” kind of feel to it, as in “oh come on, we both know you don’t need to thank me for this!”
E di che!
Ma di che!
You might also like to know that this phrase is an abbreviated version of non c’è di che. If we break this down word for word, we get:
Non – not
C’è – there is
Di – of
Che – what
“There isn’t of what…” Hmm, not so helpful perhaps. It sounds like someone just didn’t finish their sentence!
Think of it instead as “there isn’t any need”. Like di niente, you’re emphasising how it was really not a problem to help.
Grazie per l’aiuto di oggi. – Thanks for helping out today!
Non c’è di che! – No problem! (There’s no need)
If the full version feels like too much of a mouthful, just focus on learning e di che. It’s the one Italians use most often anyway!
Our next one is very popular. Our Italian teachers at Joy of Languages say it’s their favourite.
Figurati
So, you’ve just bought another round of drinks at the bar. Your friend thanks you heartily: grazie mille! You could well respond with: figurati!
Figurati is a bit like saying “no problem” or “it was no bother”. Like di niente and e di che, it’s a way of showing that you were happy to help.
The challenge with mastering this phrase comes with the pronunciation. The emphasis is on the second syllable, figuuuuuuurati, and not on the A as you might expect. Be careful not to say figuraaaaaati, with an “arty” sound at the end. It’s: figuuuuuuurati.
To use this expression in the formal address, say si figuri instead.
Grazie per la sua gentile lettera. – Thank you for your kind letter.
Si figuri! – It was no bother at all!
The origins of this expression are mysterious. It literally means something like “imagine!” If anything with this phrase it’s even more confusing to think of it like that! Rest assured, Italians don’t wonder too much about it: they just use it when they want to say that they were happy to help.
Our next phrase does however have a cute literal meaning – and there’s only one form for all contexts!
Ci mancherebbe
As you get home, you see your elderly neighbour struggling up the stairs with all her shopping. You offer to take her bags as you pass, and she gladly thanks you.
Grazie! – Thank you!
Ci mancherebbe! – No problem at all.
What you’re literally saying here is “it would be missing”.
Ci – it
Mancherebbe – would be missing
As in, something would be missing if I didn’t! It’s a very kind expression, because it’s like saying that you only did what anyone else would do in the same situation: it would be rude not to.
This works great in informal situations too. Say, for example, last time you went out to eat, your friend paid the whole bill. This time you offer to return the favour.
Oh, grazie mille! – Oh, thanks a lot!
Ci mancherebbe! – Not at all! (It would be rude not to!)
Now, what about the pronunciation? This one’s a bit of a mouthful!
The main thing to watch out for is the Cs. The first one, in ci has an English CH sound, just like in “cheese”. The second, in mancherebbe, is a K sound, like in “stomach” and “ache”.
CHee man-Keh-reb-beh
It’s a tough one to crack, but Italians will be impressed if you get it right because it’s a very native sounding expression.
For an easy life, try out this next phrase.
A te
Ever felt like you should really be the one saying thank you? To return thanks back to someone saying grazie, you can use a te – it literally means “to you”. It’s short for grazie a te – “thanks to you”. The formal version a lei is very common too.
If you ever go shopping in Italy, you’ll hear this one all the time. After the cashier hands you the receipt, most people say grazie. And the cashier responds straight away with:
A lei! – To you (formal)
or
A te! – To you (informal)
It’s basically like responding to thank you in English with “thank YOU!”. We give “you” extra emphasis to make sure they know who deserves the most thanks.
But it’s not just in the service industry you hear it. Say your friend invites you over for dinner. You bring a bottle of wine, but it’s the least you could do. They say:
Oh, grazie mille! – Oh, thanks a lot!
A te! Grazie per avermi invitato. – Thank YOU! Thanks for inviting me.
Our last phrase is simple and informal.
Tranquillo
This one tends to be used mostly by younger people. It literally means “tranquil” or “calm” but here it’s like saying “no stress”, or “no worries”.
For example, your friend is taking you home and you’ve asked them to go a little out of their way:
– Grazie!
– Tranquillo! – No worries!
Sometimes, you might even hear it shortened to tranqui! (pronounced “tranki”), but keep in mind that this is slang and older people don’t normally use it.
So… now you know exactly how to respond to grazie like an Italian – but are you ready for our quiz? For a final swat, here’s a quick summary of the phrases we’ve covered.
7 Ways to Respond to Grazie: Review
Can you remember all 7 responses to grazie that we mentioned?
The most basic one is prego. You can use it in most situations.
Grazie di tutto! – Thanks for everything!
Prego! – You’re welcome.
Then we had the equally versatile di niente and di nulla. They literally meant “it’s nothing”.
Grazie per il vino! – Thanks for the wine.
Di niente! – No problem.
Then there was E di che!, short for non c’è di che. This one’s more informal.
Hai cucinato? Grazie! – You cooked? Thank you!
E di che! – No worries!
And the teachers’ favourite, figurati. That’s si figuri when it’s formal.
Grazie per il caffè! – Thanks for the coffee!
Figurati – It was no bother at all.
Next is the elegant expression ci mancherebbe. Its sweet literal meaning: “it would be missing” makes the extra pronunciation effort worthwhile.
Grazie per l’aiuto – Thanks for your help.
Ci mancherebbe! – Not at all! (It would have been rude not to!)
If you want to thank them back, then use a te, or a lei in the formal address.
Grazie per questo. – Thanks for that!
A te! – Thank YOU!
And finally the very cool (and informal) tranquillo. If you’re down with the kids, you can even say tranqui.
Grazie, bro! – Thanks bro!
Tranquillo. – No worries.
Did you find that quick summary helpful? Prego! Now you’re ready for the quiz.
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Vocabulary: What’s the Best Response to Grazie?
Tranquillo = no worries
Ci mancherebbe = not at all
Grazie mille = thanks a lot
Prego = you’re welcome
Di niente = no problem (lit. Of nothing)
Figurati = no worries (informal version)
Si figuri = no worries (formal version)
Non c’è di che = no problem (there’s no need)
E di che / Ma di che = no problem (there’s no need)
Grazie a te = thanks to you (informal version)
Grazie a lei = thanks to you (formal version)
A te = same to you
Quiz: What’s the Best Response to Grazie?
How much did you learn? Find out in the quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: What’s the Best Response to Grazie?
Flashcards: What’s the Best Response to Grazie?
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Transcript: What’s the Best Response to Grazie?
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti! Hi everyone and welcome to Learn Italian with Joy of Languages.
M: Before we get started, we wanted to let you know that the doors to our online Italian school are open, but they’re closing very soon!
K: If you’ve been struggling to learn Italian on your own, our school will help you with 3 things:
- Enjoyable lessons, that make learning feel like a hobby you want to keep doing
- Speaking practice with support and feedback from lovely teachers
- A structured path, so you can focus on the most useful things and improve a little bit more each day.
You’ll focus on everyday language so you can learn how Italians actually speak, with really clear explanations, so you can understand the logic behind everything.
M: To find out more click the link in the description. We’d love to see you there!
K: Now I have a question for you Matteo. Have you ever had an awkward grazie moment?
M: What do you mean, an awkward grazie moment?
K: You know, when someone says thank you, and then you just kind of do a weird smile and say oh… well… grazie!
M: Oh, and then the other person is wondering why you are thanking them?
K: Yeah, exactly.
M: Yeah, that happened to me all the time in England! Because I knew the main one “you’re welcome”, but most of the time people used different ones, like “no worries”, and “don’t mention it”, so I got a bit confused.
K: It’s the same in Italian. Lots of students know prego, which means “you’re welcome”
M: Prego
K: This is the go-to phrase if in doubt. It works in any situation.
M: Grazie, Katie
K: Prego!
K: But then you hear native speakers using all these different ones. And you want to learn them so you can sound like a native speaker, too.
K: Exactly. So let’s learn some typical responses to grazie in Italian. We’ll start by listening to a conversation we had as Matteo was leaving the supermarket last week…
M – Aiuto! Ho comprato troppe cose.
K – Aspetta, aspetta… prendo le birre.
M – Grazie.
K – Di niente. Prendo anche questo gelato…
M – Grazie mille.
K – Figurati, non c’è di che. Prendo anche i formaggi.
M – Grazie!
K – A te! Mmmh.. ma un po’ di frutta, no?
M – Ecco cosa ho dimenticato!
K: Let’s hear that line by line. First Matteo said:
M: Aiuto! Ho comprato troppe cose.
K: Help! I’ve bought too many things. Word for word:
M:
Aiuto – help
Ho – I have
comprato – bought
troppe – too many
cose – things
K: Then I said:
M: Aspetta, aspetta… prendo le birre
K: Wait, wait… I’ll take the beers
M:
Aspetta – wait
prendo – I take
le – the
birre – beers
K: I’m taking things from Matteo’s hands to lighten the load. So Matteo said:
Grazie – Thank you
K: Then you heard our first response to grazie. I said:
M: Di niente.
K: No problem. Literally:
M:
Di – Of
Niente – Nothing
K: So di niente is quite neutral, and good for most everyday situations, whether you’re talking to a friend, or someone you don’t know in a shop or restaurant.
M: Di niente
K: Notice the pronunciation here of niente. In some ways it’s similar to the ending of grazie
M: grats-yeah
K: Which we talked about in the last episode, we’ve got this “yeah” sound. But this time, it has a “N” before it.
M: N-yeah (x3)
K: N-yeahnte
M: Niente (x 3)
K: Grazie Matteo!
M: Di niente!
K: Then I said:
Prendo anche questo gelato.
I’ll also take this ice-cream. Literally that’s:
M:
prendo – I take
anche – also
questo – this
gelato – ice-cream
K: Then Matteo said:
M: Grazie mille.
K: Thanks a lot, literally “thanks a thousand”.
K: Next, I said:
M: Figurati, non c’è di che.
K: No worries, not a problem.
Here are two typical responses to grazie. Let’s break those down. First we had:
M: Figurati
K: It’s an expression that means “no worries”, when you use it in response to grazie. This phrase is really emphasising the fact that it wasn’t a problem at all for you.
M: Yeah, it’s not a bother at all.
K: It’s a really kind way to say “you’re welcome”. In fact, Cristina, one of our Italian teachers at Joy of Languages, says it’s her favourite response.
M: Figurati!
K: To really pull off figurati, make sure to put the emphasis on the uuuuuuu:
M: Figuuuuura – Figuuuuurati
K: Be careful not to say “Figuraaaaati”. It’s Figuuuuurati.
M: Figuuuuuuurati (x3)
K: Grazie Matteo!
M: Figurati!
K: The formal version of this expression is:
M: Si figuri
K: So if our elderly neighbour thanked Matteo for holding open the door, he use the formal, and say:
M: Si figuri.
K: Then there was:
M: Non c’è di che
K: Which means “not a problem”, but it’s actually made up of 4 parts:
M:
Non – not
c’è – there is
di – of
che – what
K: That doesn’t make any sense at all if you translate it literally! With these expressions it’s best to just learn them as a set phrase. If it helps though, you could imagine it like “there isn’t any need”, kind of short for “there isn’t any need to thank me”. You’re emphasising again that it was no problem. Oh, is that a coffee for me? Thanks Matteo!
M: Non c’è di che. Or as we sometimes say: e di che.
K: Yes, if you think non c’è di che is a bit of a mouthful, you can shorten it to e di che!
M: That’s actually the way Italians say it most often, so if you focus on learning e di che for now, you’ll sound really native!
K: Keep in mind that your tone is really important here. You want to say it quite forcefully, with a bit of surprise. It has a kind of “Oh come on! You don’t need to thank me”.
M: Yeah, like “oh come on, we both know you don’t need to thank me for this!”
K: Grazie!
M: E di che!
K: You can also use this expression with ma.
M: Ma di che!
K: Then I said:
M: Prendo anche i formaggi.
K: I’ll take the cheeses, too. Literally:
M:
Prendo – I take
Anche – also
I formaggi – the cheeses
K: And Matteo said:
M: Grazie
K: Then you heard our last response to grazie:
M: A te!
K: No, thank YOU! Literally
M:
A – to
te – you
K: Just like how in English you can say “same to you” or “thank YOU” where you thank someone in return. It’s short for:
M: Grazie a te
K: Thanks to you. There’s a formal version to learn as well here which would be:
M: A Lei
K: To you – for when you’re talking to someone older or someone you don’t know.
K: Soon, we’ll review the different responses to grazie you just learned. But first, I had to point out Matteo’s questionable shopping priorities! I asked:
M: Mm.. ma un po’ di frutta, no?
K: Hmm… but a bit of fruit, no? As in, not even a bit of fruit?
M:
Ma – but
un po’ di – a bit of
frutta – fruit
no? – no?
K: Then Matteo said:
M: Ecco cosa ho dimenticato!
K: That’s what I’ve forgotten! Literally:
Ecco – here
cosa – what
ho – I have
dimenticato – forgotten
K: Now you’ve heard quite a few different ways to respond to grazie. Can you remember them all? We had the classic:
M: Prego
K: Then a few ways to say that it was no problem at all for us, we were happy to do it. Matteo will say each one a few times, so you can say it with him. The first was di niente:
M:
Di niente (x3)
K: Then we had figuuuuurati:
M: Figurati (x3)
K: And non c’è di che.
M: Non c’è di che (x3)
K: There’s also a simpler and more common version:
M: E di che (x3)
K: And a way to say “same to you” or “thank YOU!”
M: A te!
K: Let’s recap the conversation all the way through:
M – Aiuto! Ho comprato troppe cose.
K – Aspetta, aspetta… prendo le birre.
M – Grazie.
K – Di niente. Prendo anche questo gelato.
M – Grazie mille.
K – Figurati, non c’è di che. Prendo anche i formaggi.
M- Grazie!
K – A te! Mmmh.. ma un po’ di frutta, no?
M – Ecco cosa ho dimenticato!
K: So, next time someone tells you grazie, you’ll be able to respond just like an Italian would!
M: Before we go, remember that doors are still open to our online Italian school. Just for a couple more days, so if you’re thinking of joining us, now’s the perfect time. To find out more click the link in the description.
K: We’d love to see you there!
And If you’re curious to learn a couple more native-sounding ways to respond to grazie or you just want to see everything written down, and get bonus materials, like vocabulary cards and a quiz, you’ll find those over on our website too.
M – See you next time.
K – Or as we say in Italian.
Alla prossima!
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