Introduction
Thank you in advance is a commonly used phrase when you are writing something. Especially an Email. When it comes to the working environment, some phrases can be used in various ways to express your thoughts in more professional ways and make the conversation efficient. But there are many uncertainties about using this phrase in different ways. In this article, we are going to see the meaning of Thank You in Advance.
Meaning of Thank you in advance
Thank you in advance is a phrase that is used to express your gratitude in advance. This means you are expressing your kindness and thanks even before the person agrees to do something that you are asking him or her. In detail, Thank you in advance is used when you are asking someone for any help or explanations about something or commanding them to do something and ending the conversation with thanks in advance even before receiving a reply note from them. This term is mostly used in Emails, especially to your teammates, other employees, co-workers.
Thank you in advance might seem odd to the viewer of your mail. Whether the person takes it with a good tone or bad tone depends on the way you have written the mail apart from that one phrase, “Thank you in advance.”
Example situations in emails
I have included different situations where the cause is similar, but the tone is different. You can choose which one you think is more polite to your eyes.
Person 1:
Hey Daniel,
I was working on a project for more than a month. But I can not complete it by now. I want you to help with it and finish the project before the deadline as I have to take some leave to attend a wedding. I have attached the file and descriptions of the project below. Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Michael.
Person 2:
Hey Daniel,
I was working on a project for a couple of weeks. Now I am meeting the deadline but could not complete the project. There are a few more days for the submission. So, would you please kindly lend me a helping hand if possible? If you don’t have any hectic schedule ahead of the week and would like to help me. Let me know so that I can send you about the project in detail. Thanks in advance, Looking forward to your reply.
Regards
Alex
Now, who will you choose to help?
Situation 1. When you are asking someone for help in your email, and you are writing it in an authoritative way which will make the other person feel angry, there is a chance that he or she might reject your proposal even if you didn’t give any choice of denial by adding thanks in advance.
Situation 2. If you are asking someone in an email for their acceptance or help on a project or if it is a request for something. The mail also looks promising with words that are not filled with commanding words or ordering tones and the writing also seems more promising and undeniable throughout the writing as simple as asking for help with a polite tone. It will help you to get accepted for your request even if you have added. Thank you in advance. That’s the right way to ask for help and end the proposal without being denied.
Choose to be humble, polite, and loyal:
So, we should be careful with our words when it comes to communication, especially when it comes to writing because writing conveys fewer emotions compared to the spoken form of communication. Especially in the case of work-related situations, anything can be taken in the wrong way. Thus, we should be more humble and polite with our words, especially in written forms of communication such as emails and messages, to avoid unfortunate situations.
Asking someone for their help politely and humbly can help you to be accepted by another person. Another person can choose to help you with the project if the request contains more humble, polite, and loyal reasons for your inability to complete the task. The mail should look more authoritative.
How to use Thank you in advance?
Thank you in advance can being used in Emails. Especially for writing purposes in the working environment. Thank you in advance, most probably used for different reasons. But, the main reason is to ask someone for help. It is mostly used in office-related situations, emails, and messages, But that doesn’t mean you can not use this anywhere. It depends on your tone and how you are using it. It can be used professionally, casually as well as rudely. The phrase Thank you in advance completely depends on your tone of writing.
Can Thank you in advance, used in verbal conversation?
Definitely yes. However, Thank you in advance is predominantly used in written forms of communication. But, it can also be used in verbal communication if you are using it in written formats like emails and messages. It might sound strange and rude to some people. But, if we use this phrase in verbal conversation, people can identify whether we are authoritative by our tone and voice modulation. So, there will be no more misconceptions also. However, we should use them with some extra care when it comes to verbal communication. Such as,
You can use it after you have asked your friend or colleague for help regarding the project in person. And you have to leave soon for something else, and you can say, “I got to go; think about the project, anyway. Thank you in advance.”
When you use Thank you in advance either for verbal communication or for written communication. The main key is gratitude and politeness. When you ask for help, you should sound polite because you are the one who is asking for a favor.
Alternative phrases or words for Thank you in advance:
Various phrases can be used instead of Thank you in advance. Those phrases can help you to avoid further misconceptions in your written tone or modulations.
- Thank you – Thank you is a simple word that can be used in common to avoid misconceptions by using Thank you in advance. When you use thank you, no one can pinpoint whether your written mail or message has an authoritative tone.
You can also add some more words and phrases in your mail or conversations like:
- I expect you to help me with this project; thank you
- Thank you for your time.
- Waiting for your response, thank you.
- I hope you get me right. Thank you for your time.
- I’m looking forward to your reply. Thank you.
- Thanks for your attention.
- Many thanks to you.
- I would appreciate it if you offered me a lending hand.
- Thanks for spending your valuable time with me.
- Hoping that I have asked the possible thing.
- I hope it is possible for you.
- I would be grateful if you could help me in this situation.
- I hope you have some spare time to help me with it.
- Thank you for any help that you can offer me.
- Let me know if you can offer any help with this project. Thank you.
- Thanks for considering my request.
- I appreciate your time.
- I would appreciate it if you could help me with this one.
If you surely want to use Thank you in advance in your mail or message. You can do that by adding some more words after the sentence.
For example,
- Thank you in advance for your valuable time.
- Thank you in advance for any help that you can offer me.
- Thank you in advance for your assistance in the future.
- Thank you in advance. I hope I have asked the possible thing.
- Thank you in advance; let me know if you have time for this task.
- Thank you in advance, looking forward to hearing from you.
- Thank you in advance, expecting a positive response from you.
- Thank you in advance; I hope you find this possible.
Where to use Thank you in advance?
Thank you in advance, mostly used in office or work-related surroundings, especially which is used in written forms. Such as emails and messages. Thank you in advance can be used in any place without any inconvenience. But, it is majorly used in formal and professional conversations like company-related work. But, Thank you in advance also looks like a casual phrase. So, there is no denial in using this phrase for common talks or in group chattings sarcastically to mock your friends, etc.
For example,
- Dude, can you cover up for me? I might come late. Thank you in advance.
- Hey bro, when you are coming, get me some French fries. Thank you in advance.
If you are using it, Thank you in advance if your friends are siblings. It would not sound rude. Even though it sounds rude, it doesn’t even matter as long as they are your friends or siblings who are close to you personally. Even though it sounds weird to use Thank you in advance with close relatives, language is meant for communication. Words are especially invented to express yourself.
Misconceptions about Thank you in advance
There are several misconceptions in using the phrase. Thank you in advance.
1. People think Thank you in advance is a rude and authoritative phrase. But the truth is no. It is not an authoritative phrase, as well as it is not a rude phrase even though it sounds like one. Thank you in the advance phrase is used to express gratitude even before the work is done. So, thanking someone even before they start to work is not at all a rude phrase.
There are some possibilities for the phrase. Thank you in advance can seem quite offensive and rude. But to be honest, whether the phrase seems offensive does not depend on the phrase but the way of your writing and the way of your request. Overall, It’s not dependent on that particular phrase, but it purely depends on the tone that you are using throughout the mail that you are requesting someone for a helping hand.
2. People believe that if you are saying Thank you in advance even before the work is done. This means you have already thanked them and would not do the same after the task is completed. But, it is not like that. If a person is thanking you even before you agree to do anything, why should he or she hesitate to thank you after you helped him or her?
This is one such misconception that evolves in someone’s mind who receives a help mail. But, if a person thanks to you even before the work is done, he will thank you even after the work is done. That is how gratitude works.
Avoid using Thank you in advance in professional space
Thank you in advance is primarily used in working surroundings and other professional spaces. Specially Thank you in advance is used in the written formation such as emails or messages to a colleague or teammates. It is used at the end of the body part of your writing as a conclusion part or as an ending phrase. But there are no limitations when it comes to the English language.
So, you can use this phrase. However, you find it is possible to use. But it is advised you to avoid it in professional cases as it gets the results of misconceptions more than a confirming response. When it comes to professional space, we can not afford to take risks. There are plenty of ways to express your gratitude.
Conclusion
Thank you in advance is chiefly used in written forms, especially in working space. But considering the misconception, we can use several other phrases instead of using. Thank you in advance or thanks in advance to avoid further misconceptions. You can use several alternatives which I have mentioned above, which would not make any misunderstandings as well as it will make your written tone as polite as possible.
