Quiero agradecer a mi familia su ayuda.

I want to thank my family for their help.

Breakdown of Quiero agradecer a mi familia su ayuda.

• la familia: the family
• yo: I
• querer: to want
• mi: my
• a: to
• la ayuda: the help
• su: their
• .: period
• agradecer: to be thankful

Questions & Answers about Quiero agradecer a mi familia su ayuda.

Why is the verb agradecer in the infinitive (quiero agradecer) and not conjugated like quiero agradezco or just agradezco?

In Spanish, when one verb follows another verb like querer, the second verb is normally in the infinitive:

• Quiero agradecer... = I want to thank...
• Quiero comer. = I want to eat.
• Quiero salir. = I want to go out.

So:

• Quiero agradecer a mi familia su ayuda.
  = I want to thank my family for their help.

If you say just:

• Agradezco a mi familia su ayuda.
  = I (here and now) thank my family for their help.

So:

• Quiero agradecer: talking about the intention to thank (typical at the start of a speech, letter, etc.).
• Agradezco: doing the thanking right now in the act of speaking/writing.

You cannot say quiero agradezco; that mixes two finite verb forms and is ungrammatical in Spanish.

Why is there no word for “for” (like por) in the Spanish sentence, even though in English we say “thank my family for their help”?

The verb agradecer already includes the idea of “for” in its structure. Its typical pattern is:

• agradecer algo a alguien

where:

• algo = the thing you’re thankful for
• a alguien = the person you’re thanking

In your sentence:

• su ayuda = the thing you’re thankful for (direct object)
• a mi familia = the person you’re thanking (indirect object)

So Spanish literally says something like:

• “I want to thank to my family their help.”

Because agradecer already encodes that meaning, you don’t need (and in Spain usually don’t use) por here:

• ✅ Quiero agradecer a mi familia su ayuda.
• ❌ Quiero agradecer a mi familia por su ayuda. (not typical in Spain; see next question)

Can I say Quiero agradecer a mi familia por su ayuda? Is it wrong?

It is not strictly wrong, and many native speakers do say it, especially in Latin America. But from a Spain (Peninsular) perspective:

• The most natural, standard form is:
  • Quiero agradecer a mi familia su ayuda.

In Spain, if you want to use por, you normally switch to dar las gracias:

• Quiero dar las gracias a mi familia por su ayuda.

So:

• With agradecer in Spain:
  → agradecer algo a alguien (no por)
• With dar las gracias:
  → dar las gracias a alguien por algo

What are the grammatical roles of a mi familia and su ayuda in this sentence?

The verb agradecer takes two objects:

1. su ayuda – direct object (DO)
   It answers: What do I thank? → their help

2. a mi familia – indirect object (IO)
   It answers: To whom do I give thanks? → to my family

Pattern again:

• agradecer algo a alguien
  → agradecer (su ayuda) a (mi familia)

So grammatically:

• su ayuda is the thing being thanked.
• a mi familia is the recipient of that act of thanking.

Why do we need a before mi familia? Is that the “personal a”?

Yes, this a is the same personal a you know from direct objects like:

• Veo a mi familia. (I see my family.)

But here, mi familia is an indirect object (not a direct one). Even so, Spanish almost always uses a before people (or person-like groups) in both roles:

• As direct object:
  
  • Quiero a mi familia.
• As indirect object:
  
  • Quiero agradecer a mi familia su ayuda.

So in this sentence:

• a marks mi familia as a person/people (indirect object of agradecer).
• You cannot drop it:
  
  • ❌ Quiero agradecer mi familia su ayuda. (incorrect)

What exactly does su ayuda mean here? Does su mean “his”, “her” or “their”? How do we know?

Su is ambiguous in isolation; it can mean his / her / its / your (formal) / their.

In this sentence, context tells us it refers to mi familia:

• Quiero agradecer a mi familia su ayuda.

So it means:

• su ayuda = their help, i.e. the help given by my family.

Why not sus ayudas?

• ayuda is usually treated as a mass noun: help in general, not a countable “help 1, help 2, help 3”.
• So su ayuda = their help (all of it), not their helps.

If you wanted to avoid the ambiguity of su, you could rephrase:

• Quiero agradecer la ayuda de mi familia.
  (I want to thank my family’s help.)
  (Here de mi familia clearly marks whose help.)

Can I change the order and say Quiero agradecer su ayuda a mi familia? Does that sound natural?

Yes, that word order is also correct and natural:

• Quiero agradecer su ayuda a mi familia.

Both versions are fine in Spain:

1. Quiero agradecer a mi familia su ayuda.
2. Quiero agradecer su ayuda a mi familia.

Differences:

• Grammatically: none (same direct and indirect objects).
• Stylistically:
  
  • Order 1 slightly highlights a mi familia first.
  • Order 2 slightly highlights su ayuda first.

In everyday use, the difference is very subtle; both are perfectly acceptable.

Could I say Quiero dar las gracias a mi familia por su ayuda instead? What’s the difference from Quiero agradecer a mi familia su ayuda?

Yes, that’s a very common and natural alternative:

• Quiero dar las gracias a mi familia por su ayuda.

Differences:

• agradecer is a single verb:
  • Quiero agradecer a mi familia su ayuda.
    Slightly more formal/concise.
• dar las gracias is a verbal phrase:
  • Quiero dar las gracias a mi familia por su ayuda.
    Very common in spoken Spanish and also fine in writing.

Grammatically:

• agradecer → agradecer algo a alguien
• dar las gracias → dar las gracias a alguien por algo

In Spain, both are used; dar las gracias may feel a bit more neutral and very frequent in everyday talk.

What is the difference between Quiero agradecer a mi familia su ayuda and Agradezco a mi familia su ayuda?

They’re both correct but differ in nuance:

• Quiero agradecer a mi familia su ayuda.
  = I want to thank my family for their help.
  You’re expressing intention or wish to thank them. Typical at the start of a speech, presentation, acceptance talk, dedication, etc.

• Agradezco a mi familia su ayuda.
  = I thank my family for their help. / I am grateful to my family for their help.
  You are directly expressing gratitude, often in writing or more formal statements.

Often, people begin a speech with something like:

• Quiero agradecer a mi familia su ayuda y su apoyo.

or, a bit more formal:

• Agradezco a mi familia su ayuda y su apoyo.

Can I use pronouns and say Quiero agradecerles su ayuda? How does that work?

Yes. In fact, using pronouns is very natural:

• Quiero agradecerles su ayuda.

Here:

• les = indirect object pronoun = a ellos / a mi familia
• You’re omitting the explicit a mi familia, because the pronoun already expresses it.

You can also keep both (for emphasis or clarity):

• Quiero agradecerles a mi familia su ayuda.

Other possibilities:

• Quiero agradeceros vuestra ayuda.
  (to a group you’re on tú terms with, in Spain)
• Quiero agradecérsela.
  (I want to thank them for it; se = to them, la = the help)

In Spain you’ll most commonly hear:

• Quiero agradecer a mi familia su ayuda.
• Quiero agradecerles su ayuda (a mi familia).

Is this sentence specifically “Spain Spanish”, or is it also used in Latin America?

The structure itself:

• Quiero agradecer a mi familia su ayuda.

is fully correct and understood everywhere in the Spanish-speaking world.

Differences:

• In Spain, people strongly prefer agradecer algo a alguien without por.
• In much of Latin America, you’ll also hear:
  • Quiero agradecer a mi familia por su ayuda.

So:

• In Spain:
  
  • Most idiomatic: agradecer a mi familia su ayuda
  • Or: dar las gracias a mi familia por su ayuda
• In Latin America: both phrases with or without por are common, and agradecer por algo sounds more natural than it does to many Spaniards.

How could I make this sentence sound more formal or more polite in (Peninsular) Spanish?

You can make it more formal/polite mainly by changing quiero:

1. More formal / more polite wish:

   • Quisiera agradecer a mi familia su ayuda.
     (Very common in formal speeches.)
   • Me gustaría agradecer a mi familia su ayuda.

2. More “statement-like” and formal:

   • Deseo agradecer a mi familia su ayuda.
   • Agradezco a mi familia su ayuda.

All of these are fine in Spain. Rough guide to tone:

• Quiero agradecer... → neutral, polite, common.
• Quisiera / Me gustaría agradecer... → a bit softer, more deferential.
• Deseo / Agradezco... → more formal, written style.