Thank you - No problem

[Apollys]

I'm wondering about various ways to respond to thank you in Chinese.  My ultimate question is what would be the most natural translation of "Thank you" - "No problem" to Chinese?

 

I think I tried 没关系 or 没什么 with my girlfriend and she said it wasn't right to use that in response to 谢谢, I don't remember for sure though.  I know the standard responses are 不客气 or 别客气 or 不用谢, and things like that, but I don't like them too much.  I would also be interested in a more literal translation of "You're welcome" if that's at all used in Chinese.

[889]

You can say 没关系 "It's nothing!" when someone thanks you. But not to thank someone yourself.

[Apollys]

Thanks and nice signature

[陳德聰]

11 minutes ago, 889 said:

You can say 没关系 "It's nothing!" when someone thanks you.

 

Mm... can you though? I say 沒關係 when someone apologises to me.

[889]

Yes, if someone steps on my foot -- and apologises -- they get a 没关系! from me. Unless they did some real damage.

 

I also do use it when someone thanks me, to say it wasn't any bother at all to hold the door open, for example. But maybe something else would be more appropriate. De nada?

[Daniel Tsui44]

It's OK to use "没关系", "没什么" to response other's thank when people think that you make some sacrifice to help them. Example, when you offer other your seat on a bus. You say "没关系" or "没什么" when he/she thank you.

The literal translation of "You are welcome." is "你很受欢迎。"  We don't use it to response other's thanks.

There are too many words to response other's thanks. You need to use it in the right situation.

举手之劳。 It means the help is a piece of cake.

小事一桩。 It means the help is a piece of cake.

应该的。     It means the help is your duty.

others: 不客气，别客气，客气了，不用谢，不用……

You need to use the right word in the right situation.

[lips]

没事儿

[Publius]

I usually say 不客气.

没关系 is understandable I guess. Though it's usually associated with 对不起. There's a children's song named 对不起没关系.

Mandarin Chinese is spoken by over a billion people. There's got to be some variations. For example someone on Zhihu claims: 事实上，上海一带对“谢谢”都是用“没关系”来回答的。

I guess much depends on regional, generational, and personal backgrounds.

For me, 谢谢/没关系 is like using 'You bet' in response to 'Thank you'. Puzzling at first. But then you get used to it.

[Daniel Tsui44]

I agree. I use "没关系" in all casual situation. 

People are getting lazy and tend to use simple and OK "answer". People chatting use image now instead of type Character. LOL