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I am learning Spanish and ran across "De nada" and "No hay de qué". Both mean "You're welcome" . What's the difference?

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Possible duplicate of "Are there any differences between “de nada” and “por nada”?"? – Miguel Feb 15 '12 at 23:57
"No hay de que solo mas de papa." - Chespirito – Alfredo Osorio Feb 21 '12 at 22:42

3 Answers

up vote 5 down vote accepted

It's just a matter of regional preferences.

No hay de qué might be a bit more formal in some contexts, but they mean exactly the same.

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I assume the correct spelling is que and not qué, since the latter is (in my understanding) only used in questions... am I wrong? – Flimzy♦ Feb 16 '12 at 7:13
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@Flimzy the correct spelling is "no hay de qué". "Qué" is used not only in direct and indirect questions but also in direct/indirect exclamations. – Javi Feb 16 '12 at 10:12
@Javi: Would you (or someone) be willing to add that to my answer here? – Flimzy♦ Feb 16 '12 at 19:10
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@Flimzy I have updated that answer. Feel free to change anything I've added/changed if you don't agree. – Javi Feb 17 '12 at 8:34
@Javi: Thanks a lot! It looks good to me. – Flimzy♦ Feb 17 '12 at 19:37
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There is another way in Spain:

No hay por qué darlas

It means that you don't need to thank me, because helping you was easy for me, or our personal relation is so strong that helping you is taked for granted. Actually, the three forms have the same sense, as 'De nada' and 'No hay de qué' can be considered shorter forms of 'No hay por qué darlas'.

All the three forms are common, being 'De nada' the most common due the shortness.

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If you say "No hay por qúe darlas" in Mexico people will screw with you. That's because "darlas" can also be tought as "dar las nalg** a alguien". In Mexico that's called "alburear". You can find the definition here: rae.es/alburear – Alfredo Osorio Feb 22 '12 at 21:17
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In Mexico de nada - or por nada- is a common reply to Gracias. I am now studying Sp in Costa Rica where they take de nada more literally hence offensive. To the locals de nada means more like It was unimportant and i dont care. Here the appropriate response to Gracias. is - Mucho gusto - Its my pleasure Similarly me da igual is apropriate while No me importa is somewhat offensive

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