Is It Correct To Say “Much Appreciated”? - Strategies for Parents

“Much appreciated” is a way of expressing gratitude towards someone else for some form of help or gesture. It is a shortened version of “It is ... SkiptoContent Haveyouheardtheexpression“MuchAppreciated”andwonderedwhatitmeansandwhetherornotitisgrammaticallycorrect?TheEnglishlanguagehasmanysayingsandphrases,someofwhich,whileincommonuse,areincorrectthatyoushouldavoid. Saying“Muchappreciated”iscorrectwhenyouuseitinamoreinformalsettingasanalternativetosaying“Thankyou”tosomeoneforsomethingtheyhavedoneforyou.Insomecases,suchasaformalemail,using“Muchappreciated”attheendasasignoffisinappropriate.Unlessyou’reveryfamiliarwiththeperson,it’sbesttoavoidusingthisphrase. Readontofindoutwhatsaying“muchappreciated”entails,howtouseitinasentence,andwhatotherphrasesyoucanusetosay“thankyou.” WhatDoesSaying“MuchAppreciated”Mean? “Muchappreciated”isawayofexpressinggratitudetowardssomeoneelseforsomeformofhelporgesture.Itisashortenedversionof“Itismuchappreciated”or“Xismuchappreciated.”   Insimplerterms,“Muchappreciated”isanotherwaytothanksomeoneforsomethingthattheyhavedoneforyou. Youcanuse“Muchappreciated”inasentenceoruseitasastand-alonephrase,anditwouldbeagrammaticallycorrectstatementtoreplace“Thankyou”(source). InWhatContextCanYouUse“MuchAppreciated”? “Muchappreciated”ismorecommonlyusedinaninformalorcasualsetting.Oneusesittoexpressthanksforsomethingsomeonehasdoneforyouorwilldoforyouinthefuture,usuallywithsomeoneclosetoyou. InAnInformalSetting Manypeopleuseitattheendofanemail,instantmessageconversation,orforin-personrequestsandconversations.  Whenweusethephraseafteraquickgestureorsmallfavorfromagoodfriend,“Muchappreciated”isasufficientwayofexpressinggratitude,andtherecipientwilllikelyinterpretitasgenuine. However,insomecases,“Muchappreciated”maynotcomeoffthewayyouintend. WhenNotToUse“MuchAppreciated” ImagebyIsaiahRustadviaUnsplash Somesituationsrequiremorecautionwhenchoosingyourexpressionofgratitude.Thecontextyouuseitindetermineshowyouraudienceinterpretsit,anditcancomeoffasflippantorinsincereifyou’renotcareful. Generally,youshouldnotuse“Muchappreciated”whilewritingaformalletterorprofessionalemail,wheretherecipientmaydeemitaslazyorlackingininterest.  Forthesereasons,“Muchappreciated”ismoreacceptabletouseinaninformalorcasualsituationratherthanaformalsituation. Using“MuchAppreciated”inAFullSentence Still,whileusing“Muchappreciated”maybeconsideredinappropriateinmostformalsettings,using“Muchappreciated”inafullsentenceratherthantheabbreviatedversionisusuallyacceptable. Forexample,tocloseaformalmessageandexpressgratitude,youcouldsay,“Yourtimeisverymuchappreciated”asopposedto“Muchappreciated.” Inafullsentence,itisalwaysprecededbyanauxiliaryverb,suchas“is,”“were,”or“be”(source). Herearesomeexamplestoshowcasehowyoucanapply“Muchappreciated”inasentencetoappropriately. Helpingmewiththeseexamquestionswillbemuchappreciated. Children’sclothesasdonationsaremuchappreciatedinthewintermonths.ThegiftIreceivedwasmuchappreciated.Thoseflowersyousentherwereverymuchappreciatedwhileshewasinthehospital.Youradviceovercoffeedatesisverymuchappreciated. Asyoucanseeintheseexamples,using“muchappreciated”inthiswaycomesacrossasgenuineandmeaningfulincomparisontousing“Muchappreciated”onitsown. Itisworthmentioningthat“muchappreciated”statesthatsomeoneappreciatessomething,butitdoesnotspecifywhothatpersonis.True,weusuallyexpecttherecipienttoinferthatwemeanthatweappreciatedwhattheydid,butitcancomeoffasevasive. Thisiswhyplacingthephrasewithinalargercontexthelpstomakeitmoreacceptable.Onitsown,it’salmostlikeyou’reavoidingstatingthatyouaretheonewhoappreciatedsomething. “MuchAppreciated”or“MuchAppreciateIt”? WhilelearningEnglish,youwillhearmanyoddphrasesandcolloquialismsbynativeEnglishspeakers(source).Inpassing,youmaythinkyouheardsomeonesaying“Muchappreciateit”insteadof“Muchappreciated”andgetratherconfused. IndividualscanhearmanyEnglishphrasesintwoways,withonebeingincorrect.Examplesofphraseslikethisinclude:“It’sadoggy-dogworld”insteadof“It’sadog-eat-dogworld”and“Muchappreciateit”insteadof“Muchappreciated.”“Muchappreciateit”isincorrect,andthecorrectwayofusingthisphrasewouldeitherbetosay“Muchappreciated”or“Iappreciateit.” “Iappreciateit”alsousesanactivevoice,indicatingthesubjectperformingtheactioninsteadofmerelyimplyingit,andisappropriateinaformalsetting. SouthernUSDialectvs.EasternUSDialect Allovertheworld,therearevariouscolloquialwaysofexpressingthanks.InAmericanEnglish,you’remorelikelytoencountertheuseof“Muchappreciated”or“Appreciateit,”dependingontheregionyoulivein. “Muchappreciated”iscommonlyusedintheEast,and“Appreciateit”ismorecommonlyusedintheSouthandSoutheast. Bothphrasesaredeemedgrammaticallycorrect;however,theyarestillinformal,soitiswisetobecertainofthecontextyouareusingthemintomakeagoodimpression.   HowToUse“AppreciateIt”inaSentence ImagebyYogendraSinghviaUnsplash Similarto“Muchappreciated,”youcanalsouse“Appreciateit”toshowthankstosomeone.“Appreciateit”islesscommontouseasaphrase,andyouwillhearitmorecommonlyinfullsentenceformprecededbycertainpronouns.  InWhatContextCanYouUse“AppreciateIt”? “Appreciateit”canbeusedasastand-alonephrase,orinasentence,toshowthanksforsomethingsomeonehasdoneforyou.Inasentence,“appreciateit”isalwaysprecededbyapronoun,like“I,”“we,”or“they.” Herearesomeexamplesofhow“appreciateit”canbeusedinasentence. Iappreciateitwhenyouphonemeonceaweek.Doyourememberthewayyoustoodupformeyesterday?Iappreciateit.Thankyouforhelpingmymomwithhergroceries;weappreciateit.Grandparentsreallyappreciateitwhenyousay“Thankyou”foryourfood.Whenwewerekids,Iusedtoreallyappreciateitwhenyoucametomybirthdayparties.  Theseexamplesshowusthat“appreciateit”canserveasagenuinewaytothanksomeoneforsomethingthattheyhavedoneorstilldo. OtherPhrasesToUseInsteadof“MuchAppreciated” TheEnglishlanguagecangetconfusingwhenweconsiderhowmanyphrasesandwordscanbeusedinterchangeablywithoneanother.  Don’tbeintimidatedbecausemanyinterchangeablephrasescanbeusedbasedmainlyonpersonalpreferences.Youcanreplacetwointerchangeablephraseswitheachother,andthecontextshouldremainthesame(source). Therearemanyotherphrasesthatyoucanuseinsteadof“Muchappreciated,”andherearesomeexamples(source): PhrasePhraseformingpartofasentenceThankyou.Thankyouforthegenerousgift.Manythanks.Manythankstoyouandyourwifeforthelovelydinner.Muchobliged.Aliftformydaughtertoschoolwillbemuchobligedthismorning.Thanksalot.Thanksalotforhelpingmepaintlastweekend.GreatlyAppreciated.Yourkindwordsweregreatlyappreciated. Forinformationonhowtothankmorethanoneperson,readourarticle,“IsItCorrecttoSay,‘ThankYouBoth’?” IntheUSA,nativeEnglishspeakersfromdifferentregionstendtofavordifferentphrasesingeneral.Whileyoucanuseanyoftheseandtechnicallybecorrect,youmaywishtoblendinmoreinyourparticulararea. Hereisatableshowingthefavoredphrasebasedontheregiontohelpyoudecidewhichoneyoumaywanttouse. PhraseTheregionmostcommonlyusedMuchAppreciatedEasternUSRegionAppreciateItSouthernUSRegionMuchObligedSouthernUSRegion Tohelpyouhearthesimilarities,letuspracticeinterchanging“Muchappreciated”with“MuchObliged”inthefollowingexamples: MuchappreciatedMuchobligedThesugaryoulentmewasmuchappreciated.Thesugaryoulentmewasmuchobliged.Thanks,youradviceismuchappreciated.Thanks,youradviceismuchobliged.Helptounpackboxeswillbemuchappreciated.Helptounpackboxeswillbemuchobliged.Itismuchappreciatedwhenyouexpressyourgratitude.Itismuchobligedwhenyouexpressyourgratitude.Afriendlylettertoyoursisterwillbemuchappreciated.Afriendlylettertoyoursisterwillbemuchobliged.  Asyoucansee,youcanswapout“Muchappreciated”and“Muchobliged”directlywithinthesamesentencewithoutchangingthemeaning. FinalThoughts TherearesomanyfactorstotakeintoconsiderationwhenlearningtospeaktheEnglishLanguage.How,andwhen,yousaycertainthingsmakeanimpactonhowpeopleperceiveyou.  Learninghowtousephrasescorrectlycanhelpyoumakeagoodimpressioninaserioussituationlikeajobintervieworbusinessemail.Happylearning,andkeepupthegoodwork! Postnavigation Client’sorClients’:WhentoUsePossessiveorPossessivePlural“AnHour”or“AHour”:ProperArticleUseBeforeHour IsItCorrecttoSay"ThankYouBoth"? Tuesday22ndofSeptember2020 […]goodtoknowwhichexpressionsareusedinacasualcontext,forexample,“thanks”and“muchappreciated”[…] GreatlyAppreciated:MeaningandProperUsage Monday14thofSeptember2020 […]youarewonderingthesamethingaboutthephrase“muchappreciated,”read“IsItCorrecttoSay“MuchAppreciated?”explainingwhenitisappropriatetouseanexpressionlike[…] Commentsareclosed. About Hi!I'mDr.PatrickCapriola,afatheroftwogirlswhoisalwayslookingforwaystobeabetterdad.Iamacareereducatorandhaveservedattheclassroom,administrative,anduniversitylevels.Icreatedthissitetosharehigh-qualityresearch-basedcontentonkids,parentingandnavigatingtheschoolsystem. LegalInformation ThissiteisownedandoperatedbySonaDigitalMediaLLC.SonaDigitalMediaLLCisaparticipantintheAmazonServicesLLCAssociatesProgram,anaffiliateadvertisingprogramdesignedtoprovideameansforsitestoearnadvertisingfeesbyadvertisingandlinkingtoAmazon.com.SonaDigitalMediaalsoparticipatesinaffiliateprogramswithBluehose,Clickbank,CJ,ShareASale,andothersites.SonaDigitalMediaLLCiscompensatedforreferringtrafficandbusinesstothesecompanies.