Breakdown of Vielen Dank im Voraus für Ihre Antwort.
Ihr
your (formal)
für
for
die Antwort
the answer
Vielen Dank
many thanks (warmer, more formal than danke)
im Voraus
in advance
Questions & Answers about Vielen Dank im Voraus für Ihre Antwort.
Why is it Vielen Dank with an -en ending instead of just Viel Dank?
The phrase is actually a shortened version of a sentence like Ich sage Ihnen vielen Dank (I give you many thanks). Because der Dank is the direct object in that invisible sentence, it takes the accusative masculine ending -en.
What does im Voraus literally mean, and why is it capitalized?
It translates to in advance. Voraus is acting as a noun here, which is why it is capitalized. The im is a contraction of in dem (in the), making the literal translation in the advance. It is a fixed phrase that always uses the dative case.
Why is Ihre capitalized in this sentence?
Ihre is the formal version of your, which is always capitalized in German to show respect in professional or formal settings. If you were writing this to a friend, you would use the informal deine with a lowercase letter.
Does für always take the accusative case, like it does here with Ihre Antwort?
Yes, the preposition für is one of the strictly accusative prepositions in German. Since die Antwort is a feminine noun, the accusative form of the possessive word is Ihre, which happily looks exactly the same as its basic nominative form.
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