Matching game
De, pour or envers? French expressions of gratitude
Connect French expressions of thanks and relief to the right complements, including gratitude envers, merci pour and soulagé de.
- B1
- 6 pairs
- Tap to match
- Learn this in the B1 notebook →
In short
Use de la gratitude envers une personne, merci pour une aide and soulagé de + infinitif. The preposition belongs to the whole expression. You can also say être reconnaissant à quelqu’un or envers quelqu’un. These are alternative constructions, rather than one rule for every expression of thanks.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
You have finished a difficult presentation. A colleague helped you prepare, and a friend listened afterwards. Naming the person, the help and your feeling requires different constructions. Learn each phrase with its complement so that you can adapt the whole sentence.
Keep the expression and its frame together
gratitude envers + personneGratitude towards a person
Focus: Envers names the person towards whom gratitude is felt.
J’éprouve de la gratitude envers ma collègue.
I feel gratitude towards my colleague.
reconnaissant à + personneGrateful to a person
Focus: À names the person to whom the speaker is grateful.
Je suis reconnaissant à mon frère.
I am grateful to my brother.
reconnaissante envers + personneGrateful towards a person
Focus: Envers is also possible after reconnaissant or reconnaissante.
Je suis reconnaissante envers mon équipe.
I am grateful to my team.
merci pour + choseThanks for something
Focus: Pour introduces the help or thing being thanked for.
Merci pour tes conseils.
Thanks for your advice.
soulagé de + infinitif passéRelief after an action
Focus: De introduces the completed action causing relief; it becomes d’ before avoir.
Je suis soulagé d’avoir terminé.
I am relieved to have finished.
Read the six complete messages
Match each complete message to its meaning. Notice which complement names the recipient, the help or the completed action.
Tap one on the left, then its partner on the right.
Thanking allows more than one frame
Remercier accepts both de and pour in suitable constructions: Je te remercie de ton aide and Je te remercie pour ton aide are both possible. This page does not turn that choice into a right-versus-wrong quiz. With a completed action, Je te remercie de m’avoir aidé gives a useful pattern. In Merci de patienter, however, the infinitive introduces a polite request to wait; the waiting may still be ahead.
Merci de m’avoir attendu.
Thank you for waiting for me.
Merci de patienter quelques instants.
Please wait a few moments.
Keep the feeling separate from the recipient
Reconnaissant and soulagé agree with the person who feels grateful or relieved: Elle est reconnaissante; nous sommes soulagés. The person receiving the thanks does not control that adjective. In Je suis soulagée d’avoir terminé, d’ is the elided form of de before avoir. Terminé stays unchanged here because there is no preceding direct object.
Build a short message in two stages: name the help, then describe its effect. Merci pour tes remarques. Je suis soulagée d’avoir trouvé une solution. This gives the thanks a specific reason without making gratitude and relief interchangeable feelings.