Kansas State University

Unit 3: Indirect Thanking Strategies 1

Unit 3 explicitly teaches students two types of indirect thanking strategies that are commonly used in both Chinese and American English: expressing gratitude by way of complimenting and expressing subjective feelings, and provides corresponding exercises and activities for students to practice.

3.1 Goal of Unit 3

The goal of Unit 3 is to familiarize students with two indirect thanking strategies in Chinese: by way of complimenting and expressing subjective feelings, and to provide them with the opportunities for both language-focused and output practices.

3.2 Complimenting

The first type of indirect thanking strategy in Chinese is by way of complimenting (or praising). Speakers express their gratitude toward the hearer by complimenting his/her work or effort. Take the following expressions as examples: 你真好! (nǐ zhēn hǎo) /你太棒了! (nǐ tài bàng le) /你真厉害! (nǐ zhēn lìhài). It is a very common way of expressing gratitude in Chinese. By using this strategy, Chinese speakers not only express their thanks but also show their admiration toward the hearer.

In American English, speakers also use this strategy to express their gratitude. According to previous research findings (e.g., Bi, 1996b), there are two most commonly used complimenting words involved in such thanking expressions: nice and kind. For example, “It’s very nice/kind of you.”

Though this strategy is common in both Chinese and American English, previous studies have reported that this type of strategies in Chinese include more varied expressions, while those in American English are comparatively formulaic (Bi, 1996b; Li, 2004). Therefore, it is suggested that students should accumulate a repertoire of thanking strategies by way of complimenting when communicating with Chinese speakers in daily life.

Thinking: Can you think of other complimenting expressions used to express gratitude in Chinese and American English? Make a list of these expressions. 

To learn more about the Chinese thanking expressions in this section, please refer to the Glossary below.  

3.3 Expressing Subjective Feelings

The second type of indirect thanking strategy that is commonly used in Chinese is by way of expressing subjective feelings. Speakers express their gratitude by expressing their subjective feelings such as pleasure, liking, or surprise. For example, if you receive a gift from a person, and you like the gift very much, it is probable that you choose to express gratitude by expressing your liking of the gift, e.g., 你送的礼物，我很喜欢 (Nǐ sòng de lǐwù, wǒ hěn xǐhuān) (Li, 2004).

In other instances, you may also choose to express gratitude by expressing pleasure, such as 我很高兴你能来 (Wǒ hěn gāoxing nǐ néng lái) (Yang, 2009) or 真高兴，你能陪我一起去 (zhēn gāoxing, nǐ néng péi wǒ yìqǐ qù) (Wang, 2007). In these sentences, the speaker admits to the hearer’s favor by expressing his/her happy feelings.

This strategy is also commonly used in American English. For example, American speakers often use expressions that belong to this kind of strategy to express their gratitude, such as "I'm really going to miss you" and "I had a lovely time here" (Eisenstein & Bodman, 1986).

Thinking: Can you think of other thanking expressions by way of expressing subjective feelings in Chinese and American English? Make a list of these expressions.

To learn more about the Chinese thanking expressions in this section, please refer to the Glossary below.  

3.4 Combinations of Strategies

We have so far learned direct thanking strategies and two types of indirect thanking strategies (by way of complimenting and expressing subjective feelings) in Chinese. On the one hand, these strategies can be used to express gratitude independently, that is, we can successfully express our appreciation by means of direct thanking strategies or the indirect strategy of complimenting or expressing subjective feelings; on the other hand, combinations of these strategies can also be used to realize the speech act of thanking. Take the following combinations as examples (Yang, 2009):

1. Direct + Complimenting: 谢谢。你真好！Xièxiè. Nǐ zhēn hǎo!

2. Direct + Expressing subjective feelings: 谢谢你，今天真地很愉快。Xièxiènǐ, jīntiān zhēn de hěn yúkuài.

3. Complimenting + Expressing subjective feelings: 今天的饭太好吃了。感觉真幸福。Jīntiān de fàn tài hǎochī le. Gǎnjúe zhēn xìngfú.

There is a possibility of combining these thanking strategies in many different ways, but when to use specific combinations usually depends on the specified situations in which gratitude is expressed. Therefore, it is strongly encouraged that learners should pay attention to how native speakers of Chinese express gratitude in communication and gradually learn to choose appropriate combinations of strategies given specific situations and interlocutors.

Thinking: Can you find out other examples that include the use of combinations of thanking strategies as listed above?

To learn more about the Chinese thanking expressions in this section, please refer to the Glossary below. 

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