Lesson 9 — Thank you

How to say thanks — the quick everyday word, the heartfelt version for when you mean it, and two ways to answer when someone thanks you.

1 · Say this

dana (DAH-na) Thanks.

One word. Say it when someone holds a door, pours your tea, hands you something. It's the quick, everyday thanks you'll reach for constantly.

2 · A closer look: everyday vs. heartfelt

dana is the casual token. When you really mean it — when someone has genuinely made your day better — Amatu has a fuller form:

mi pai to tu (mee · PAI · toh · too) Thank you. (literally: "I'm well — because of you.")

You already know most of it: mi pai is I'm well (Lesson 3). The one new piece is to — because of. So the heartfelt thanks literally names the other person as the reason you're okay. Keep dana for the fifty small thanks a day; save mi pai to tu for when it counts.

And when someone thanks you, you wave it off:

no to — "It's nothing." (literally: "no cause.")

That's the no from Lesson 3 again, plus the same to. You're welcome, built from two words you already had.

And just as thanks has a heartfelt twin, so does the reply. When you really mean you're welcome — when helping them was a gladness to you — there's a fuller form:

mi oli to tu (mee · OH-lee · toh · too) You're welcome. (literally: "I'm glad — because of you.")

Keep this one whole for now, as a set phrase: oli means glad, full of joy (you'll meet it on its own later). What matters today is the shape — it's mi pai to tu with a single word swapped. So heartfelt thanks and its answer become a matched pair:

— mi pai to tu. (I'm well because of you.) — mi oli to tu. (I'm glad because of you.)

One says you made me well; the other answers and being able to help made me glad.

🌏 You already know this Almost every language keeps a short, throwaway thanks for daily use and a bigger one for when it matters — English has thanks and thank you so much. Amatu splits them cleanly: dana for the quick one, mi pai to tu for the heartfelt one.

💛 The feeling mi pai to tu doesn't just say "thanks" — it says I am well, and the reason is you. It hands the other person credit for your wellbeing. That's why it's the one you save: spend it where it's true, and it never wears thin.

⚠️ Watch out dana is soft and even — "DAH-na," both vowels full and open. Don't let it drift toward dona (which means give) — different word, different vowel. Keep the first one a clean "ah."

3 · Your turn

Out loud:

Quick thanks for a small kindness → dana
Heartfelt thanks to someone who mattered → mi pai to tu
Someone thanks you — wave it off → no to
Someone thanks you, and you mean it back → mi oli to tu
Ask for help, then thank them → mi kena tu, yuva mi — dana

4 · Tonight's phrase

dana — thanks — with mi pai to tu for when you mean it.

30-second check

Cover the page. (1) Give a quick thanks. (2) Give the heartfelt version. (3) Brush off a thanks with "it's nothing." (4) Answer a heartfelt thanks with a heartfelt you're welcome. Four for four? You can now thank someone two ways and answer two ways — the whole little dance of courtesy.

⬅️ Back: Lesson 8 — I have a question · ➡️ Next: Lesson 10 — Recap