How do you say “thank you” in Arabic?
Shukran (شكراً) is understood everywhere. Day to day you'll also hear yislamu (bless you) in Palestine and Lebanon, merci in Lebanon, mashkour in the Gulf and 'ashat idak (long live your hand) in Iraq. The standard reply is 'afwan or il-'afu.
Thank you
شكراً
How each dialect says it
Tap to hear it the way people from each place say it.
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PalestinianJerusalem, Nablus, Gaza, Jenin0:01شكراًSHUK-ran texted as shukran
Warmer: “yislamu idek” (bless your hands) to whoever cooked or helped.
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LebaneseBeirut, Tripoli, Saida0:01شكراًSHUK-ran texted as shukran
“Merci” is at least as common, often “merci ktir.” “Yislamu” is the warm one.
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EgyptianCairo, Alexandria0:01شكراًSHUK-ran texted as shokran
Egyptians also say “mitshakkir” (I'm grateful), or “mitshakkira” if a woman is speaking.
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GulfKuwait, the Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar0:01مشكورmash-KOOR texted as mashkoorTo a woman: مشكورة mashkoora
Literally “you are thanked.” Shukran is used too.
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IraqiBaghdad, Basra, Mosul0:01شكراًSHUK-ran texted as shukran
The Iraqi favourite is “'ashat idak” (long live your hand). “Mamnoon” (grateful) is common too.
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Formal ArabicTextbooks, news, speechesشكراًSHUK-ran texted as shukran
Same word everywhere. “Shukran jazilan” means thank you very much.
Saying it like you mean it
Shukran comes from sh-k-r, the root of gratitude. The same root gives shukr, thanks, and it runs through the everyday phrase il-hamdilla w ish-shukr lillah, praise and thanks to God.
In real conversation shukran is only the start. Arabic likes to thank a person's body. In Palestine, a neighbour who brings over a plate of maqluba hears yislamu idek, may your hands be kept safe. In Baghdad the same moment gets 'ashat idak, long live your hand. A Gulf speaker says mashkour, literally “you are thanked,” and a Lebanese friend switches to merci without thinking about it, a leftover of French rule that now sounds completely local.
The reply matters as much as the thanks. The formal line is la shukr 'ala wajib, no thanks are needed for a duty, and people still say it when they want you to know the favour cost them nothing.
In a sentence
How people actually use it, dialect by dialect.
- Lebaneseميرسي كتير، يسلموmerci ktir, yislamuThanks so much, bless you.
- Iraqiعاشت إيدك، الأكل كلش طيب'ashat idak, il-akil kullish tayyibBless your hands, the food is really good.
- Gulfمشكور يا أخويmashkoor ya akhuyThanks, brother.
People also ask
How do you reply to shukran?
'Afwan or il-'afu (you're welcome) work everywhere. Lebanese often say walaw, and in the Levant you'll also hear tikram.
What does yislamu mean?
A Levantine thank you: “may they be kept safe,” short for yislamu idek, bless your hands. Say it to anyone who cooked, poured or helped.
How do you say thank you very much in Arabic?
Shukran jazilan in formal Arabic. In speech it's shukran ktir in the Levant, shukran awi in Egypt, shukran wayid in the Gulf and shukran hwaya in Iraq.
How we checked this page
Checked by two AI models, not yet by a native speaker
Each dialect form above is shown only if it passed an independent check. If we weren't sure how a dialect says it, we left that dialect out rather than guess. The audio is an AI voice tuned to each dialect; we're replacing it with real speakers over time. How we check words.