The word “gracias” in Spanish is worldwide known. It’s maybe one of the first five words you learnt when you started studing Spanish. It’s a sign of good manners and politeness.

Tomorrow it’s Thanksgiving Day in the United States and other countries and millions of families will gather together to have dinner. They will give “thanks” for all the goods of this year. Well, let us show you how this word means not only “thanks” but many other sense.

Expressing gratitude with the word “gracias” in Spanish

The main use of the word “gracias” in Spanish is to show gratitude. It’s the most common expression to reply when someone does a favor or gives something to us. However, we can use other related expressions in more formal registers.

Using the verb agradecer, we can sound very polite:

For example: Les agradezco su atención y espero volver a verles pronto.

Another option to say “thank you” is the adjective agradecido, commonly followed by the cause (with the preposition “por”).

For example: Estoy muy agradecido por su ayuda a mi profesor de español en Spanishviaskype.com.

 

The word “gracias” in Spanish can be very funny

“Gracias” can mean fun or even, joke. Something can hacerte gracia if it’s funny for you:

For example: No me hace gracia suspender los exámenes DELE.

Using the adjective “gracioso”, we describe a funny noun:

For example: Mi profesor en Spanishviaskype.com es muy gracioso.

Nevertheless, what you should never do is laugh at all jokes that someone might make. If you do, that person can be tiresome. That is what reírle las gracias a alguien means.

For example: No le rías las gracias a tu hijo porque entonces nunca te respetará.

The other side of this word

The negative form of the word “gracias” in Spanish is “desgracias”, that means “misfortune”. Some of the variations of this fatal word are the adjective “desgraciado” (miserable), the phrase “caer en desgracia” (fall from grace) or even, the adverb “desgraciadamente” (unfortunately). Let’s see all of them in one single situation:

For example: Tengo un amigo que es muy desgraciado. Desgraciadamente, ha caído en desgracia porque se ha enfrentado a su jefe. Ahora todo son desgracias en su trabajo.

The word “gracias” in Spanish to express cause

Curiously, we can use this word to express the cause using the linker “gracias a”, followed by a noun, infinitive or a subordinate clause. Of course, the cause is always beneficial. On the other hand, we may use “por culpa de” to express the opposite: the guilty and responsable of a detrimental action.

For example: Gracias a mis profesores en Spanishviaskype.com he podido aprender mucho; sin embargo, por culpa de mi trabajo no puedo practicar el idioma.

In conclusión, there are many ways to use the word “gracias” in Spanish. However, we’ve only brought four ways on this article. If you want to learn more about this topic, don’t hesitate and reserve lessons with us via Skype.