Context: We invited a celebrity a while ago and want to follow up by sending him an email showing our gratitude.
2 Answers
A relatively direct translation would be
Спасибо, что почтили нас своим присутствием.
However, this is is a relatively old form of expressing gratitude for a visit. A more modern way would be something along these lines:
Благодарим вас за честь, которую Вы оказали нам посещением нашего вечера (нашего концерта, нашей презентации, и так далее).
The above translates literally as "We are thanking you for the honor that you made us by visiting our event (our concert, our presentation, and so on)."
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Is there a simpler way to say the modern version? I want to use a phrase whose grammatical construction I can understand. Jan 15, 2013 at 4:59
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3@chubbycantorset Perhaps it would make more sense for me to explain the grammatical structure of the second sentence. I added a translation to the answer. The "we are" part is implied by the inflection of "благодарим"; the "by" in "by visiting" is implied by the declension of "посещением". Also note that the second version is more appropriate in writing, because it is very formal: it would be somewhat unusual to thank someone like this in a conversation (the same probably applies to the English original as well). Jan 15, 2013 at 11:55
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1I don't think the first version is outdated, and it flows much better than the second.– kotekzotJan 29, 2013 at 16:39
Огромное спасибо, что Вы пришли, это большая честь для нас.
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1"Огромное спасибо" and "спасибо, что" are not perfect stylistically (though acceptable in everyday speech) and hence should not be used in formal invitations.– Quassnoi ♦Jan 15, 2013 at 11:49
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