Revised as of
4 Jan 2023
Oh man, this is a morass of word confusion with a number of sites agreeing and disagreeing on what part of grammar is thank-you and thankyou. As for thank you, there are sites that claim it’s a noun and others claim it’s a verb.
Fortunately, thank you is definitely an open compound noun phrase AND a verb phrase.
Some say you should never hyphenate thank-you. Others insist that thank-you be hyphenated when used as an adjective. Still others consider thank-you a hyphenated compound noun that modifies. As an adjective, use thank-you in front of the noun. As a noun it occupies the noun position. Just don’t use thank-you as a verb.
I have to say I hadn’t expected thankyou as a variation on thank-you. I’ve never seen it used this way. I reckon thank-you will eventually evolve into the closed compound noun.
The grammar and dictionary sites also disagree as to which to use when. Some are definite that the hyphenated version be used only as an adjective. Others insist that the only proper spelling is thankyou. Others are adamant that only thank you should ever be used. So . . . it’s all up to you. Just be consistent.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Thank-You | Thank You |
|---|---|
Many Thanks by MoneyAware is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via VisualHunt. — A very nice thank-you note. |
Thank You Word Cloud is Ashashyou‘s own work under the CC BY 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Adjective; Noun, hyphenated compound that modifies
Plural: thank-yous, thankyous Alternative spelling for the noun as closed noun: thankyou |
Exclamation 1; Noun 1; Verb, transitive 2
Plural for the noun: thank yous Third person present verb: thanks you |
| Adjective: Always hyphenate An instance or means of expressing thanks Noun, hyphenated compound: |
Exclamation: A polite expression used when acknowledging a gift, service, or compliment, or accepting or refusing an offer 1 Noun: Verb, transitive: to thank + you 2 |
| Examples: | |
| Adjective: Holly likes to send thank-you cards for presents she receives. Esther meets her after she writes her a thank-you letter for the scholarship. Doyle is also currently perusing a few hotel brochures himself, with a view to taking the entire staff on a thank-you break in January. Have you written your thank-you letters yet? We could have also included an invitation or a thank-you note if we had chosen to. Noun, hyphenated compound: I’d like to say a big thank-you to everyone for all their help. A special thank-you goes to Patricia McDermot for all her hard work to make the night such a big success. |
Exclamation: Thank you for your letter. No thank you, I don’t believe I will. Thank you for your time. If you’ve made it this far, thank you for being here. Noun: A big thank you goes to the coach, Margaret Moriarty, who has been carrying out endless training with this team. A special thank you goes to all involved in the planning and preparations and to all those involved on the day. Verb, transitive: Thank you for being there. Thank you for coming today to this talk on written communications. Thank you for your letter of 23 June 2004. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: thankful, thankless Adverb: thankfully, thanklessly, thankworthily Noun: thankfulness, thanksgiver, thanksgiving, Thanksgiving, thanklessness, thankworthy Noun, plural: thanks Verb: thank |
|
| History of the Word: | |
| Unknown. | |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Thank-You versus Thank You
Apple Dictionary.com
Cambridge Dictionary: thank-you
Collins Dictionary: thanksgiver
Dictionary.com: thank-you
The Free Dictionary: thank you
FuturePerfect.co.uk: thank yous
kokoboko. “Which One is Right: Thank you, thankyou or thank-you?” English Baby. 2 Nov 2011. Web. 26 Oct 2020. <https://www.englishbaby.com/lessons/5779/member_submitted/which_one_is_right_:_thank_you,_thankyou_or_thank-you>.
Lexico.com: thank you
Online Etymology Dictionary: thank you
Popova, Maria. “How We Got ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You’: Why the line between politeness and bossiness is a linguistic mirage.” Brain Pickings. 25 July 2013. Web. 26 Oct 2020. <https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/07/25/origin-of-please-and-thank-you/>.
“Thank you vs. Thank-you.” Words to the Wise. Grammar Stammer. 10 Feb 2012. Web. 26 Oct 2020. <https://grammarstammer.weebly.com/words-to-the-wise/thank-you-vs-thank-you>.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Henryville, IN, Student Thank You Note by State Farm is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr.
This sounds like a worthy cause: “State Farm has joined forces with DonorsChoose.org to fund projects supporting and improving education in disaster stricken communities.
“Public school teachers from every corner of America post classroom project requests on DonorsChoose.org. Requests range from pencils for a poetry writing unit, to violins for a school recital, to microscope slides for a biology class.
“Donors can browse project requests and give any amount to the one that inspires them. Once a project reaches its funding goal, the materials are delivered to the school.”
