Comparing "ganji" and "ganxie"

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感激 and 感谢 both are verbs that express gratitude to someone for something they have done unto you. While they can sometimes be used in similar patterns, these two words have different meanings and are used in different contexts. 感激 means how you feel on the inside, i.e., gratitude or grateful, whereas 感谢 is used to mean to be very thankful, or how one expresses their thankfulness. 感激 is used in formal situations, whereas 感谢 is used in informal/formal situations.

感激 (gǎnjī) 感谢 (gǎnxiè)
Meaningto be gratefulto be thankful, to express thankfulness
Part of Speechverbverb
Formalityformalflexible

In some circumstances both 感激 and 感谢 can be used similar patterns, although the meaning is different.

Common Patterns

In the following examples both 感激 and 感谢 can be used.

  • 我很~
  • 非常~
  • ~你

To say “to be very thankful” or to express your thankfulness use 感谢

Common Phrases

In the following examples only 感激 can be used.

  • 表示感谢
  • 衷心感谢
  • 不必感谢

To say “to be grateful” use 感激

Common Phrases

In the following examples only 感激 can be used.

  • 感激不尽
  • 感激涕零