Someone appreciated my work and wrote "You are the best, thanks."
How should I reply to this as a courtesy?
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4I disagree with closing the question. An important point, for both native-speakers (see the answers) and learners, is that while various replies have different levels of formality, an important distinction is in how much work you are implying you did for the person thanking you. "No problem" is less formal than "It was nothing", but the common point is that both imply that what you did was either part of your expected duties/behavior or took little effort on your part. Other phrases acknowledge that you were inconvenienced but gladly so. This isn't just opinion.– WayneFeb 14, 2014 at 2:48
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5 Answers
It actually matters how you would like to respond. Do you want to be formal or informal.
Below i wanted explain how @David's answer made me feel.
-No problem (Very commonly used, Informal)
This is far from being formal and totaly counts as informal but people who uses English as their second language might sometimes use this as a formal reply. In street slang also can be followed by friendly namings (dude, bro, man..etc) to show how close you feel.
-Glad I could help (Friendly, Informal)
It is a response when you are experiencing pleasure, joy, or delight while helping. You take it as a mission and overcome a lot problems for the one that you feel important to you with pleasure. This is also leaves the speaker in an expectation for further conversation.
-My pleasure (Rarely used, Formal)
It is a response that is much more polite than "You're welcome". You enjoy helping him/her/them and helping them also works out for you as well. It's actually formal but you can also see it is commonly used between close friends and family members in an informal way.
-You're welcome (Very Formal)
It's mostly used as conversation ending sentence. Seriously, it takes 1-2 seconds to finish the sentence and felts like you are in a hurry and don't care much about his/her/their appreciation.
-It was nothing (Cordial, Somewhat informal)
Reminiscent of the Spanish phrase de nada, this one might be especially appropriate when you want to humbly dismiss high praise, such as "You're the best." Very similar to no problem, though less common.
answered Sep 19, 2013 at 12:33
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1I'd have said "You're welcome" is much more informal than "My pleasure", and that "No problem" is by far the most informal of all these. Sep 19, 2013 at 16:27
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1@FumbleFingers i agree with "No problem" it's the most informal answer but here is the situation; People who uses English language as their second language are not seeing the fact; it is informal! Most of the time i see people on business meetings does this and thinks it's a formal reply. Sep 20, 2013 at 8:12
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1@Berker: In your answer, you yourself said that "No problem!" is often followed by "Dude", so clearly you recognise that native speakers habitually use the expression in informal contexts. If non-native speakers use it in formal contexts that's up to them - native speakers will make allowance. But it doesn't change the fact that it's essentially an informal usage, even if non-native speakers fail to recognise this. Sep 20, 2013 at 16:58
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2The phrase in question "You are the best, thanks.", is itself informal, so it is natural to reply with an informal response as well.– aweSep 23, 2013 at 7:52
A few common responses to compliments are "you're welcome", "no problem", "my pleasure" or "glad I could help".
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1Am I right when I think that you are welcome is general polite reply for any situation while glad I could help is used more when some more interaction was made before (you discussed the problem in detail, you actually know that it was really important for the one who wrote you)?– MasterPJSep 19, 2013 at 10:01
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1@MasterPJ - I'll bet I could come up with an exception if I thought hard enough, but, 99% of the time, that's a safe guideline to follow.– J.R. ♦Sep 19, 2013 at 12:54
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Only use Glad I could help when you actually helped and you are happy that you were able to do so (or you wish them to think you are). You can use you're welcome when you've been thanked for anything- a gift, a kindness, providing help, etc.– JimSep 21, 2013 at 4:30
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The best of all is " My Pleasure".
because it suggests that you accepted the opportunity and tried your best to help and solve the issue and gave the best solution that really worked for the person. So, it works for both, accepting the challenges as well as replying politely and accept the appreciation....
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1nice touch there but if you don't want the guy follow you like a little kitten you should avoid using this. Cause you may helped for once and doesn't want to be his/her/their life coach. If you know what i mean.. Sep 20, 2013 at 14:29
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1@Berker Yuceer : Can you please explain me this ? Because, I don't think "my pleasure" asks the person to ask for help again from me only..– Sweet72Sep 20, 2013 at 14:40
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Not directly but if you had many problems that you can't solve alone and you know a guy who gets "pleasure" from solving your problems i bet you would go to him again and again. Sep 20, 2013 at 14:59
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1@ Berker Yuceer : Amazing!!! ha ha ha ... nice thinking.I never thought in that direction, But, I think that depends on personal opinion...– Sweet72Sep 20, 2013 at 15:02
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exactly but you know human factor always messes up with calculations.. Sep 23, 2013 at 7:10
I would simply respond with "You're welcome.", which is a common and polite reply to being thanked.
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1I don't think "You're welcome" works everywhere because when someone is in deep difficulty and you help him out, then replying "You're welcome" to his thanks shows that indirectly you are asking that person to be in difficulty again!!!! saying "My pleasure" shows that you readily accepted the opportunity and tried to help at your best and it worked out..– Sweet72Sep 20, 2013 at 14:26
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@Sweet72- please explain why saying You're welcome shows indirectly that you are asking that the person get into trouble again. This is simply not true.– JimSep 21, 2013 at 4:39
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Replies to "Thanks" is given as per situation:
1) If someone is in difficulty and you help him/ her out, then rather than "You're Welcome" , my pleasure works best if it's a formal situation. In informal situation, "No problem" or "It's OK" will suit the purpose..
2) When you want someone to visit you again, you can say " You're Welcome".
3) In friendly terms, if you don't want to accept thanks , then the reply can be " No Mention", "no problem".
4) My pleasure can be said when you really feel good to help someone or you like to help them, wish them and it's ok if they don't ask for your help again..
The best of all is " My Pleasure".
because it suggests that you accepted the opportunity and tried your best to help and solve the issue and gave the best solution that really worked for the person. So, it works for both, accepting the challenges as well as replying politely and accept the appreciation....