Kansas State University

Unit 4: Indirect Thanking Strategies 2

Unit 4 explicitly teaches students three other types of indirect thanking strategies that are common in Chinese and American English: expressing gratitude by way of promising to reciprocate, supposing, and blaming, and also provides students with a variety of exercises and activities to practice.

4.1 Goal of Unit 4

The goal of Unit 4 is to familiarize students with three other indirect thanking strategies in Chinese: by way of promising to reciprocate, supposing, and blaming, and to provide them with the opportunities for practice.

4.2 Promising to Reciprocate

A third indirect thanking strategy in Chinese is by way of promising to reciprocate (or promise of reward). Chinese speakers like to express their gratitude by promising of reward in the future. There is an old saying in Chinese which goes “even small gratefulness deserves hearty returns” (Wang, 2007). For example, when someone is kind enough to lend you a book that you need badly, you may choose to use this strategy such as 我看完就还给你 wǒ kàn wán jiù huán gěi nǐ to express gratitude. The following expressions can also be categorized under this category:

下次我请你吃饭！Xiàcì wǒ qǐng nǐ chī fàn.

多少钱？我马上给你！Duōshǎo qián? Wǒ mǎshang gěi nǐ.

也祝你旅行愉快！Yě zhù nǐ lǚxíng yúkuài.

以后你需要我帮忙，就告诉我。Yǐhòu nǐ xūyào wǒ bāngmáng, jiù gàosù wǒ.

In American English, speakers also use this strategy to express their gratitude. For instance, "Next time I will treat you" and "I will pay you back as soon as I can" (Eisenstein & Bodman,

1986).

Thinking: Are there other expressions in American English and Chinese that belong to this thanking strategy? 

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

4.3 Supposing

A fourth type of indirect thanking strategy in Chinese is by way of supposing (or making supposition). Speakers express gratitude by supposing the possible results without the person or his/her help under the same circumstance. This strategy claims the indispensability of the person or his/her help. For example, after a person helps you out of a difficult situation, you may use this strategy to express your appreciation in Chinese. Such expressions often contain grammatical structures like 要不是 (yàobúshì), 多亏 (duōkuī) /幸亏 (xìngkuī), 还好 (hái hǎo) and 要不然 (yàobùrán).For example, 还好有你在 (háihǎo yǒu nǐ zài) ！多亏有你帮我 (duōkuī yǒu nǐ bang wǒ) ！

A thanking strategy similar to supposing is also used in American English. But compared to Chinese, the strategy in American English seems highly formulaic. The most commonly used expression is perhaps "What would I do without you/your help?"

Thinking: Are there other expressions in American English and Chinese that belong to this thanking strategy?  

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

4.4 Blaming

A fifth type of indirect thanking strategy in Chinese is by way of blaming. We use the word “blaming” here but it does not bring any derogatory meaning with it. There are two sub-strategies under this category: blaming oneself and blaming others.

Blaming oneself in this unit means that speakers criticize themselves for having done something unsatisfactory or complain about their own carelessness. For example, if you accidentally drop something and your friend helps you pick it up and gives it to you, you may use this strategy in Chinese such as 我太粗心了(wǒ tài cūxīn le) or 我怎么又忘了(wǒ zěnme yòu wàng le). In American English, speakers also use similar expressions like "I am so clumsy! I am always dropping things."

The sub-strategy of blaming others is usually used between people with close relationships. For example, when a close friend visits you with some gifts, you may express your appreciation by using this kind of strategy in Chinese, such as

 你太客气了！下次再带东西，就别来了！

Nǐ tài kèqi le! Xiàcì zài dài dōngxi, jiù bié lái le!

 我们是老朋友了，你怎么还这么客气啊?

Wǒmen shì lǎo péngyou, nǐ zěnme hái zhème kèqi a?

Because of the close relationship between you and your friend, you show care and consideration to your friend, and don't want him/her to waste his/her money, and thus you criticize him/her for having brought you gifts. This is highly restrained by politeness in Chinese. However, this strategy seems less used between young people in recent days.

In American English, the thanking expressions such as "You didn't have to do that," which express a lack of necessity, are similar to those under the sub-strategy of blaming others in Chinese, but they do not have a sense of blaming with them.

Thinking: Are there other situations in which you will express gratitude by way of blaming in addition to above examples?

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

4.5 Combinations of Strategies

We learned three new types of indirect thanking strategies (promising to reciprocate. supposing, and blaming) in Chinese in this unit. On the one hand, these strategies can be used to express gratitude independently; that is, we can successfully express our appreciation by means of the indirect strategy of promising to reciprocate, supposing, or blaming. On the other hand, combinations of these strategies and direct thanking strategies can also be used to realize the speech act of thanking. Take the following combinations as examples (Yang, 2009):

      1. Direct + Promising to reciprocate: 真地很谢谢你。改天我请你吃饭！

                                         Zhēn de xièxiè nǐ. Gǎitiān wǒ qǐng nǐ chīfàn.

      2. Direct + Supposing: 太谢谢了，多亏有你在。

                                        Tài xièxiè le. Duōkuī  yǒu nǐ zài.

      3. Direct +Blaming oneself: 谢谢，看我粗心的！

                                              Xièxiè. Kàn wǒ cūxīn de!

      4. Direct +Blaming others: 谢谢啊！不过下次再带东西来，我可不高兴了！

                   Xièxiè a! Búguò xiàcì zài dài dōngxi lái, wǒ kě bù gāoxing le!

There is a possibility of combining these strategies in different ways, but when to use specific combinations usually depends on the specified situations in which gratitude is expressed.

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

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

  Review 

Please click on the Review link in order to access the review for this section.