Updated on October 15, 2024
7 easy ways to say thank you in Swiss German (and how to reply)
A thank you goes a long way. If you say thank you in Swiss German, you can be sure to impress your Swiss friends even more. Every Swiss person will be delighted to hear you show your gratitude in their language. Or maybe we should say, in one of the four languages spoken in Switzerland. Most foreigners won’t go the extra mile and learn Swiss German when they can communicate in High German. They definitely should, though. After all, Swiss German is easy enough if you speak German. So get ready to learn the words you will need first and take a look at these seven ways to say thank you in Swiss German and what to say in return.
Short and sweet and the same as in German. Or is it? Indeed the Swiss German Danke means the same as the High German Danke, which is “thank you”. It also looks exactly the same. But it sounds different. The /k/ becomes a /ch/. While this is typically Swiss, it is also difficult to pronounce. This video will help you pronounce Danke in Swiss German. But don’t worry. No one expects you to become a native speaker overnight. Most people will think you sound cute and will applaud you for trying.
Sometimes short and sweet is not enough. Whenever you want to say “thanks a lot”, you can add vielmal to Danke. Danke vielmal. This is still very close to the way you would say it in Standard German, but the difference lies in the detail: Just leave out the s in Danke vielmals and you are speaking Swiss German.
Short and sweet again but this time French for thank you. Switzerland is a country with many regional differences, and not the least of them are the four languages spoken: While Swiss German is the most widely used language, some parts of Switzerland speak French, others Italian and very few people Romansch. Similar to Swiss German, Swiss French differs from the French spoken in France when it comes to vocabulary, expressions and accents. Although merci is French for thank you, it is not strictly used in the French-speaking parts of Switzerland, but can be used in Swiss German, too.
As with Danke vielmal, you can say thanks a lot using merci as well: Merci vielmal. Interestingly, this is originally a combination of a French and a German word, again minus the s in vielmals. This only goes to show how Swiss German can incorporate a French word into its own word pool. So go ahead and use merci and merci vielmal even in one of the 17 cantons, where German is the sole official language. Again, what looks the same sounds different. Pay attention to the Swiss pronunciation of merci vielmal: While in French the stress in merci lies on the last syllable and the stress in the German vielmals lies on the first syllable, Swiss people do it just the other way around: Stress me- and -mal: merci vielmal!
There are many ways to respond to thank you with you’re welcome in German. Gern geschehen (my pleasure) is one of them. We find the same idea in Swiss German: Gern gscheh oder Isch gern gscheh (German “Ist gern geschehen”). Obviously, this time the words don’t only sound different but look different, too.
Sho guet or isch sho guet for no problem is also very close to the Standard German version schon gut or ist schon gut. Again, mind the differences in writing and pronunciation. Do you see how writing Swiss German also helps you with learning German?
Bitte is a difficult German word in so far as it can take on the meaning of excuse me, please or you’re welcome. In Swiss German, you can use the word much the same. You will also find the form bit.
There are many different ways to say thank you in German, and the same is true for Swiss German. Some words and expressions look just the same but are pronounced differently. Others are immediately recognizable but neither spelling nor pronunciation is the same. Which makes for the special charm of Swiss German.
