What does de rien literally mean?

Of nothing: it was nothing. It plays the thanks down, the way no problem does in English.

Which is more formal, de rien or je vous en prie?

Je vous en prie. It is the reply to use with vous, in shops and at work.

French · phrasebook

How to say you're welcome in French

You're welcome in French is de rien. It literally says it was nothing, and it is the everyday reply to merci. In formal situations the reply is je vous en prie, which is built on vous.

Aurélien CuvelierSep 19, 2026

de rien

you're welcome

anyone

The ways to say it

de rien

you're welcome

anyone

je vous en prie

same meaning

someone you call vous, or several people · formal

How to use it

The two exchanges below show the split. A friend thanked with tu answers de rien and adds that helping was a pleasure. A stranger thanked with vous answers je vous en prie. The reply follows the register of the thanks.

Je vous en prie belongs to careful, polite French: shops, offices, anyone you would not call tu. It is never too much there. With friends it sounds stiff, and de rien is the natural choice.

Watch out

Je vous en prie contains the word for you in its vous form, so it cannot be said as it stands to someone you call tu. Friends get de rien.

In a real conversation

Each exchange is a line and its reply. Greyed letters are written and not pronounced. A tie marks a liaison, with the sound you hear under it. A label under a verb names its tense when it is not the present.

Merci pour ton aide, tu es vraiment gentil !Thanks for your help, you are really kind!Mais de rien, ça me fait plaisir de t'aider.You're welcome, it's a pleasure to help you.

Merci beaucoup, vous êtes très gentille.Thank you very much, you are very kind.Mais je vous en prie, bonne journée !You're welcome, have a good day!

Questions people ask

What does de rien literally mean?: Of nothing: it was nothing. It plays the thanks down, the way no problem does in English.
Which is more formal, de rien or je vous en prie?: Je vous en prie. It is the reply to use with vous, in shops and at work.

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Written by

Aurélien Cuvelier Founder, NuanceDeck

Aurélien Cuvelier builds NuanceDeck: the app, and the verification pipeline behind its dictionary. Every entry is grounded in the official TORFL lexical minimum and a 20,000-word frequency corpus, and every example sentence passes a certification review before it ships.

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