What is the difference between vielen Dank and Danke schön?
Living in Germany or in Austria or in Switzerland, you would have definitely used the words vielen Dank multiple times in shops or when talking to people. You would have also heard the word Danke schön used around quite a lot. This begs the interesting question, “What is the difference between vielen Dank and Danke schön? What is the difference of usage between the two words and when should we use vielen Dank and when should we use Danke schön? In this blog post we will answer the question of the difference between the two!
Meaning of the word vielen Dank
- The literal meaning of this is”many thanks”.
- This is used commonly to say thank you.
Meaning of the word Danke schön
- The literal meaning of this is “thank you very much”.
- Like vielen Dank, this is also used commonly to say thank you.
Difference between Dankeschön and Vielen Dank
- There is almost no difference in usage and in meaning between the two words except the level of formality.
- In English, we say “Bye Bye” which is highly informal. We can also say “Have a wonderful day” which is highly formal.
- Dankeschön is less formal than “Vielen Dank”.
- Dankeschön it’s used between friends and equals while Vielen Dank intends a bit of respect and formality to the conversation and removes the personal touch.
- There are however strong Email usage difference between Dankeschön and Vielen Dank
- Anyone who has written an email LIKE EVER in German will know to use Vielen Dank and never Dankeschön
- NOBODY USES Dankeschön at the end of an email!!!
- If you ask a German, they will just say, use either one and both mean the same!!
Other words which one can use
- There is another word here called as “Schönen Dank” which is used colloquially in some of the southern regions of Germany and in Austria.
- There is also Besten Dank which translates to best thanks
- Between very close friends who dont bother with niceties, they just use Danke.
If you read a lot of short stories in German with English translation you will learn more about this concept easily!
