How to Say “Thank You” in Arabic

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Arabic has one widely understood standard way to say “thank you”, plus expressions that change with dialect, situation and the people involved.

This guide covers Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and examples from Egyptian, Levantine, Gulf and Moroccan Arabic. Each phrase includes Arabic script, a transliteration and a note on where it fits.

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Quick Guide on How to Say “Thank You” in Arabic

Here’s a quick overview. The first six entries are Modern Standard Arabic; the final entry gives Egyptian male and female forms.

• شكرًا (shukran) – “thank you”
• شكرًا لكَ / شكرًا لكِ (shukran laka / shukran laki) – “thank you”, addressing a man or woman
• أشكركَ / أشكركِ (ashkuruka / ashkuruki) – “I thank you”, addressing a man or woman
• شكرًا جزيلًا (shukran jazīlan) – “thank you very much”
• جزيل الشكر (jazīl ash-shukr) – “many thanks”
• ألف شكر (alf shukr) – “a thousand thanks”
• متشكر أوي / متشكرة أوي (mitshakkir awi / mitshakkira awi) – “many thanks”, said by a man or woman in Egyptian Arabic

Common Ways to Say “Thank You” in Arabic

The safest phrase across Arabic-speaking countries is شكرًا (shukran). It works in formal and informal situations, even though everyday dialects also have their own alternatives.

You can make the addressee explicit with شكرًا لكَ (shukran laka) to a man or شكرًا لكِ (shukran laki) to a woman. The preposition ل plus its suffix means “to/for you”; it isn’t the standalone pronoun “you”.

MSA also has أشكركَ (ashkuruka) for a man and أشكركِ (ashkuruki) for a woman. These literally mean “I thank you” and sound more formal or written than a simple shukran.

Religion and Saying “Thank You” in Arabic

Arabic predates Islam, but the Quran and Islamic tradition have had a deep influence on formal Arabic and on everyday religious expressions. Some speakers use short prayers to thank someone for a good deed.

بارك الله فيكَ / بارك الله فيكِ (bāraka llāhu fīka / fīki) means “may God bless you”, addressing a man or woman. جزاكَ الله خيرًا / جزاكِ الله خيرًا (jazāka / jazāki llāhu khayran) means “may God reward you with goodness”. These are religious well-wishes that can carry gratitude, rather than literal replacements for every use of “thank you”.

Another prayer is جعله الله في ميزان حسناتِكَ / حسناتِكِ (jaʿalahu llāhu fī mīzāni ḥasanātika / ḥasanātiki): “may God place it in the balance of your good deeds.” The final form changes according to whether you’re addressing a man or a woman.

“Thank You Very Much” in Arabic

In MSA, شكرًا جزيلًا (shukran jazīlan) and جزيل الشكر (jazīl ash-shukr) both express emphatic thanks. The first is the more direct “thank you very much”; the second is closer to “many thanks”. A standard reply is عفوًا (ʿafwan), “you’re welcome”.

ألف شكر (alf shukr) literally means “a thousand thanks” and works when you want to sound especially grateful.

In Egyptian Arabic, a man can say متشكر أوي (mitshakkir awi) and a woman متشكرة أوي (mitshakkira awi). Both mean “many thanks”.

Arabic Phrases Around Food and Thanks

To thank someone directly for a meal in MSA, you can say شكرًا على الطعام (shukran ʿalā aṭ-ṭaʿām), “thank you for the food”. Spoken varieties have their own natural ways to thank a host or praise the cook.

You may also hear food-related wishes such as صحة (ṣaḥḥa) and بالصحة والعافية (biṣ-ṣiḥḥa wa-l-ʿāfiya), roughly “to your health” or “enjoy your meal”. These aren’t literal ways to say “thank you for the food”, and their use and expected reply vary by dialect.

بالهناء والشفاء (bil-hanāʾ wa-sh-shifāʾ) is another wish used around serving food, with the sense “bon appétit” or “may it bring enjoyment and health”. A possible reply is تسلم / تسلمي (tislam / tislamī), addressed to a man or woman.

In تسلمي, the ending -ī marks a feminine singular addressee. It is part of this verb form, not a general rule that adding ي makes any Arabic word feminine.

Thanking Someone for Doing Something for You in Arabic

To thank someone for something, use شكرًا على (shukran ʿalā) followed by a noun phrase.

For example, شكرًا لكَ على مساعدتي في التحضير للامتحان (shukran laka ʿalā musāʿadatī fī at-taḥḍīr lil-imtiḥān) means “thank you for helping me prepare for the exam”. In مساعدتي, the final ي is an attached first-person pronoun, so the word means “helping me” or “my assistance”.

شكرًا على النصيحة القيّمة (shukran ʿalā an-naṣīḥa al-qayyima) means “thank you for the valuable advice”. There’s no attached -ī here because the phrase doesn’t say “my advice” or “advising me”.

The forms of “to/for you” are:

• لكَ (laka) – masculine singular
• لكِ (laki) – feminine singular
• لكما (lakumā) – dual
• لَكُنَّ (lakunna) – feminine plural
• لكم (lakum) – masculine or mixed plural

“Thank You” in Different Arabic Dialects

Arabic varieties don’t map neatly one-to-one onto countries. Neighbouring regions share expressions, individual countries contain more than one variety, and speakers may use MSA alongside local speech.

Arabic learners often have to choose between MSA and a spoken variety. This interview from Benny’s Egyptian Arabic project explains how that choice plays out:

In Egyptian Arabic, a man can say متشكر (mitshakkir) and a woman متشكرة (mitshakkira). شكرًا جزيلًا is also understood, with the j of jazīlan commonly pronounced as g in Egyptian Arabic: shokran gazīlan.

In Levantine Arabic, including varieties spoken in Lebanon and Syria, you may hear the French loan مرسي (merci) or يسلمو (yislamu) as an informal “thanks”. The latter is Levantine rather than a general Arabic expression.

In Moroccan Darija, we say يعطيك الصحة (yaʿṭīk eṣ-ṣaḥḥa), literally “may God give you health”, to thank someone for their effort.

In Gulf Arabic, ما قصّرت (mā qaṣṣart) addresses a man and ما قصّرتي (mā qaṣṣarti) a woman. It literally means “you didn’t fall short” and praises the person’s effort. يعطيك العافية (yaʿṭīk al-ʿāfiya), “may God give you health or strength”, is another common expression.

When I was about 8 to 10 years old, I misunderstood يعطيك العافية because عافية (ʿāfiya) means “fire” in Moroccan Darija. I thought the speaker was wishing fire on someone! The same word can carry a very different meaning across varieties, so learn a phrase together with its region and situation.

“You’re Welcome” in Arabic

In MSA, three useful replies are:

• عفوًا (ʿafwan) – “you’re welcome” or “excuse me”
• العفو (al-ʿafw) – a polite “you’re welcome”
• على الرحب والسعة (ʿalā ar-raḥbi wa-s-saʿa) – a more formal “with pleasure”

These don’t all carry the same register. عفوًا is the simplest general reply, while على الرحب والسعة sounds more formal. لا شكر على واجب (lā shukra ʿalā wājib) is an MSA expression meaning “no thanks are due for a duty”.

English also uses “you’re welcome” when greeting someone into a place. Arabic uses different words for that meaning: مرحبًا (marḥaban), أهلاً (ahlan) or أهلاً وسهلاً (ahlan wa-sahlan).

In Egyptian Arabic, مفيش مشكلة (mafeesh moshkela) means “no problem”. ولا يهمّك / ولا يهمّكِ (wala yihimmak / wala yihimmik) is closer to “don’t mention it” or “no worries”, addressing a man or woman. In Moroccan Darija, ماشي مشكل (māshi mushkil) also means “no problem”. You can also say هذا واجب (hada wajib), “this is a duty”, to show that no thanks are necessary.

Other Arabic Words for “Thanks” and “Appreciation”

Two useful nouns are تقدير (taqdīr), appreciation in the sense of recognising value, and امتنان (imtinān), gratitude.

For “I’m grateful”, a man says أنا ممتنّ (anā mumtann) and a woman أنا ممتنّة (anā mumtanna). Add لكَ (laka) to address a man or لكِ (laki) to address a woman.

Choose one or two phrases that fit the variety you’re learning, then listen for them in real conversations. You can continue with our Arabic phrases guide, and save the expressions you want to practise in the Vocab Vault.

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