There is a new trend in email writing to send someone a request and then sign it with “Thanks in advance.” or even worse “Thanks in advance!!!“. I find this trend bordering on offensive.
What do you imply when you use this phrase? Thanks or thank you is an expression of gratitude or acknowledgement of something someone has done. In the non-email world it is a word you say after or during the action you are grateful for but not something you say concurrently with asking someone to do something. In the non-email world the “thank you” usually quickly follows the request because the action you have requested or at least agreement to carrying out that action quickly follows the request.
However, in the world of email this is not the case. When you ask someone to do something over email by the time they read to the end of the email they have neither done what you have asked nor have agreed. Thus the “thanks in advance!” precedes any action or communication on their side. In the non-virtual world this might look something like asking a waiter: ”Could you bring me another drink. Thanks in advance!” or asking your spouse to pick up some bread on the way home and saying “thanks in advance!” before they can agree or respond. I suspect both of these approaches would inhibit you from getting both bread…and water. Thus by saying thanks in advance you short-change the interaction by presuming this person will do something even before they have agreed.
Another problem with this phrase is it implies that your obligation to say thank you is done and you don’t need to express gratitude after the person actually does what you have asked them to do. It is another way you shortcut the interaction and make the receiver feel left out.
Of course people who write thanks in advance aren’t trying to be offensive or presumptuous but that’s how it comes across (particularly to the native eye). Instead try one of these alternatives:
- I really appreciate any help you can provide.
- I will be grateful if you can send me this information.
- Many thanks for considering my request. (Thus acknowledging that you are grateful for the recipient to even read your email.)
or even
- Thank you for any help you can provide in this situation.
Just give the “in advance” a rest. And always thank someone after they have done what you asked (or even simply considered it and told you it’s not possible). It may seem like a small thing but well-said gratitude goes a long way.
You hit the nail right on the head. I don’t know what’s worse, this or being, “You’re welcome,”‘d in advance, without making a decision to give thanks. laughable
“Thank you for your consideration on this matter”?
excellent!
Let us see comment by Lynn
Thank You in Advance
In email, letters, and memos that include a request, writers often end with one of these statements:
“Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.”
“Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.”
In comments on another blog post this week, one writer said she hated “Thank you in advance” and another wanted to know why the phrase deserves hatred.
People hate the phrase for a couple of reasons. One is that it feels presumptuous. The writer presumes that you will provide what is requested and so is “thanking you in advance.” Would the proper response be “You are welcome in advance”? That silly suggestion shows how “Thank you in advance” comes across wrong.
“Thank you in advance” also suggests that the reader will not be thanked later on, after fulfilling the request. If the reader receives thanks in advance, will his or her actions be thoughtlessly ignored?
Of course, people who write “Thank you in advance” do not intend to be presumptuous or thoughtless. On the contrary, they are trying to be polite. If you are among them, here are courteous alternatives to consider:
“Thank you for considering my request.” (Just by reading to the end of your message, your reader has considered your request.)
“I will be grateful for any help you can provide.”
“I will appreciate your help with this situation.”
“I hope you will be able to provide the information.”
You can also sound polite by simply omitting the “in advance”:
“Thank you for any help you can provide.” (But be sure to thank the individual after you receive the help too.)
I began with the example “Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.” That sentence has two offending phrases. The second one is “for your attention to this matter.” That bureaucratic expression has appeared in billions of letters, especially ones asking for late payments. It’s so tired after being spit out of typewriters and computers for decades. Give it a rest. Replace it with something more specific that fits your situation.
Thank you in advance for avoiding the above phrases.
Just kidding.
Lynn
It means you are expecting help from people who are willing to help you, not that you’re commanding other people to help you.
What would be rude and commanding would be “Thank you for your help”, in my opinion, because it implies the help must occur.
Also, all of these formulations, because they are commonly used, carry a lot of implicit meaning with them, and those meanings may differ for different writers or readers. For me, for example, “thank you in advance” includes “thank you for reading”, “thank you for trying to help if you can”, “I’ll be grateful if you give me an answer” and “sorry for the time you spend on it” (the last one in all cases).
If someone reading me finds it’s rude, he can always suggest me a form that would suit him better, but I would only be careful with my messages to him, not others.
Dear Jessica,
In our country, it is very common to say or to write (in non-email world) “thank you in advance” (more formal) or just “thanks in advance” (less formal), so I think it depends on your home country whether you find this trend bordering on offensive, or not.
Yours
Gizella (Hungary)
I do agree with Gizella for this one. In my country this is kind of a polite way to ask other people to do something for you. especially if he/she is older/higher level than you or you just know him/her.
But aniway, you can say thanks again after the job is done.
I have work with spanish and other asian colleagues. and we have discussed this so often. And we have the final conclusion, that this is only a matter of difference in each country’s culture and expressions.
Regards.
I work with students from over 80 countries and I find that what is sometimes considered polite in some cultures (e.g. saying “Sir” all the time) is on the border of amuzing, irritating and impolite in some other cultures. “Thanks in advance” as well as “sorry for disturbing” (at the beginning of each and every email) is in this category.
It’s definitely possible that in other languages (or even cultural contexts) “thanks in advance” is less offensive. For my American-english ear, this phrase is like nails on a blackboard. Keep in mind that the ubiquity of a phrase (particularly in non-native contexts) does not imply its appropriateness or even correctness.
Jessica, if the sender wasn’t smart enough to consider that you might be offended by this phrase, you can always check if he is a native speaker or not and take it into account before projecting your thoughts on the other party being potentially rude.
I really don’t get how people from the US or any native English speaking country treat the English language their sole property. Having a language spoken by billions across the globe your mother tongue is an advantage when you are involved in an international community because most of us have to learn English beside our own language. Please consider that the majority of the speakers of your language isn’t a native speaker and their cultural background also tend to add to “your” language whether you like it or not.
It may be not by accident that I also found this page – not saying, useful, but at least, disturbing enough not to dare to use this again in my emails.
Henrik (Hungary)
I find your post interesting. For several reasons. Worth describing.
1. You give a good advice (not use this, use this instead in order not to be rude). So far, so good.
2. Your advice is right, I guess. Specially when you point to the fact that the person asked to do something has not YET agree on that. Of course. We all know that. And we all also know that the phrase is a polite way of pressing the person asked to agree. You can call that rude. But to the asker is the best (or only) way that he/she finds to try to convince the person asked.
3. It looks like in several countries they don’t see that as offensive. And when they point you that, you react with more energy in sustaining you (possibly right) point of view. I’m sorry, but IMHO you are the rude here, imposing your point of view. May be you can think of that the next time you as a waiter for water, and you’ll see that you can give him thanks in advance AND also later, what you have your water. Now, is that a big issue?
4. Anyway, I guess you are right, and the thanks-in-advance people are showing themselfs (ourselfs?) as a low education people. Thanks for pointing it put, I’ll keep it in mind.
Regards,
I think you’re too sensitive and touchy Anglo-Americans. This is demonstrated by the tirade of a formal question like this: a statement of courtesy, without any malice, is transformed into an offense.
I think we should always look to the spirit and soul with whom our interlocutor speaks or writes, and affect our reaction only to that.
Thanks in advance for your attention. (OOOOOps !!)
The Russian equivalent of this phrase is considered OK for a business letter in Russian correspondence, and, I believe, people thoughtlessly translate it word-for-word when they write formal letters for English speakers. I’ve never actually thought that it can be inappropriate. Culture differences strike again
I think this is definitely a matter of culture. However, I receive just as many “thanks in advance” messages from native speakers as from non-native. Usually no malice is meant by it. And if one stops to think, typically it’s not said in irony. However, when dealing a pile of email, a little phrase can affect one’s feeling towards an email and inclination to answer. I recently received a request from a student to write a recommendation for him on linked in. He concluded with “Thanks in advance.” As the last message in my inbox I just couldn’t face writing a recommendation after being “Thanked” in advance. (He was a very good student so I did return to it later).
Please keep in mind that a cultural tip while it may seem picky may help you get what you want. Recently, when writing a letter to the French government, a friend helped me craft the following as a closing (I have translated it from the original which is at the bottom of this comment).
“Finally, I thank you kindly for considering my application and all its pieces. I am at your disposal for any further information and thank you for your understanding.
I beg you to accept the expression of my highest regards,”
Would we ever write this in English? No of course not. Was I offended when my french friend told me that my abbreviated one line closing was completely insufficient and that I would never get what I wanted if I sent it as is? Of course not again.
So take these cultural suggestions as suggestions. If you’d like to continue thanking people in advance best of luck! Also keep in mind that most people won’t tell you when a little phrase like this annoys them but you may be able to guess it from their response (or lack thereof).
=================================
“Par conséquent, je vous remercie de bien vouloir faire votre possible pour prendre en compte mon dossier à partir des pièces que j’ai pu rassembler. Je me tiens à votre disposition pour tout complément d’information et vous remercie par avance pour votre compréhension.
Je vous prie d’accepter l’expression de mes sentiments distingués,”
I’ve found your post very enlightening. I’m a non native english speaker, and can also say that would be pretty normal to say “thanks in advance” in my culture. But since we are speaking english, why not do it right, right? So, ok. Point taken and I wont write it.
But what troubles me there is that all this debate may be confusing the action you are ‘thanking for’. I think when one says “thanks in advance” (unless the person wants to be explicitly unpolite) s/he is thanking his interlocutor not for doing what was asked but for considering it. So, of course if the answer is positive you should say “thanks” again. And also, I don’t think your examples were very good, because that is clearly an expression that you (not you, I know) use trying to be formal and polite (although I think there is nothing wrong in saying ‘thanks’ for a waiter once order something, even though he did not brought it yet… and I even saw native english speakers doing it already.)
Nice post. Thank you.
H: A clarification. When I talk about “Thanking in advance” a waiter I mean thanking before he/she has agreed. Usually the way an interaction goes in person is you make eye contact with the waiter and say “Can I please have some water”. The waiter nods or agrees in some way and then you say “Thank you.” This isn’t rude. One doesn’t ask for water without making eye contact with the person and waiting for some reply. (At least good customers
.)
this topic let me think there’s something wrong in every conversation that i did in english. i realize that english’s not my native language but that’s not the real problem for me. the real problem is why do people think the people who use thank you in advance is “persumptuous”. We all say thank you in advance just because we want to express feeling grateful that might we don’t have enough time to say it later, may be that’s right there’s difference cultur in every country but i though we all have been united in one language called english. so i think it doesn’t matter if there is a man or woman use thank you in advance because i know people can understand that there are many people who coming from different country and culture
It certainly is difficult to communicate in a non-native tongue. Luckily english is not as strict or difficult to navigate as say french or german (with vous and tu or Sie and Du). Of course with time people typically realize that no malice is meant by these little mistakes but fitting into the idiosyncratic aspects of a language can make one’s life easier.
I’m not an English native speaker and you just made me realize how many times I’ve unfortunately used the “in advance” sentence.
Many thanks for clearing that up!