谢谢 (xiè xie) — to thank; thank you | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

谢谢 is the everyday, spoken 'thank you' — used in nearly every casual situation. 感谢 is more formal/written and used for deeper or more sincere gratitude.

verb

to thankthank you

Examples

谢谢。
xiè xie Nǐ.
Thank you.
谢谢。
xiè xie Nǐ de lǐ wù.
Thank you for the gift.
谢谢。
xiè xie Nǐ lái.
Thank you for coming.

Origin

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

谢xièthank

The sense of thanking in 谢 is repeated to express gratitude.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 謝; 谢 is its simplified writing.

言射謝

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánword; speech

Sound part声符shēngfú

射

射shè謝xiè

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 謝 pairs 言 (word; speech) with 射, which gives the sound. The simplified 谢 is a written form of this character.

Open 谢 →