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Today someone tried to help me to find something but failed, so I said "thank you anyway" to her in the end.

Is "thank you anyway" appropriate in this situation? And what phrase should I use to politely say thank you to someone who tried to help me but failed?

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  • Yes, that is a perfectly natural and appropriate thing to say. You can also use thanks all the same, which no one has mentioned in the answers yet. – Carl Smith Aug 23 '15 at 7:21
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"Thanks anyways" and "thank you anyways" are both perfectly acceptable (although the former is slightly more common than the latter). You could also use phrases such as "I appreaciate your help," or "thanks for trying." There is no specific phrase I can think of reserved for this scenario, though.

Thanks to @CandiedOrange for sugesting an improvement.

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  • 1
    Feeling to lazy to create a competing answer so I'll simply suggest adding "Thanks for trying" as well. – candied_orange Aug 23 '15 at 4:24
  • Or "Thanks for making the effort", or anything roughly equivalent. – keshlam Aug 23 '15 at 5:26
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I would go with, "Your effort (was/is) appreciated." was/is depending on the relationship temporally to the effort; That being said, the other answers are also good.

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  • Sounds too pompous to be able to use in everyday life. – aparente001 Aug 25 '15 at 3:42
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Some good responses are:
"Thanks/ thank you anyways/anyway"
"I appreciated that"
"Thank you for your time/effort"
"That was greatly appreciated"
Basically anything that shows your gratitude for them spending time and effort is acceptable.

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2

I think "Thank you all the same" can be used in this situation.

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