# عفوًا / لا شكر على واجب



## osni

[عفوًا and لا شكر على واجب]
What's the difference between this two phrase?


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## MarcB

Don't thank me it is my duty لا شكرا على الواجب
pardon عفوًا
They both are equivalent to you are welcome.


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## Muwahid

But would you use لا شكرا على الواجب  for something that's not a obligation or a job.. I just feel like it would be more used in response to someone who thanks you for doing something you get paid to do or is your jobs etc.


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## Annie_Hall

As far as I understand it, it's more like the english equivalent - no need to say thank you, it was my pleasure.
To my understanding it would be a quite rude rather than polite expression if it meant - no need to say thank you, i'm doing it because it's my duty (=i'm being paid for this).

As for the difference , I would use 3afwan in situations like -
tafadhdhal - shoukran - 3afwan while la shoukra 3ala wajib is a nice answer when you thank for an actual favour that has been done to you.


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## Ustaath

since the recipient of the favor is worthy of that act, then it's our desire and moral duty to help them out - a strong hospitality ethos


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## osni

Syukran  . Now i understand


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## Ustaath

أهلاً


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## Mahaodeh

Just a small correction to a mistake that it seems no one noticed, it's لا شكرَ على الواجب, as شكر here does not take tanween.


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## Ustaath

small yet significant !


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## Josh_

I also thought that واجب was supposed to be indefinite -- لا شكر على واجب. 

Are both ways acceptable?


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## Ustaath

well I don't know if there are local variations, I've always heard, read and said: 
  لا شكر على واجب


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## Mahaodeh

Same here, I didn't want to focus on the definite or indefinite because it does not seem to be grammatically incorrect (at least I don't feel that it is) but I'm used to it being indefinite.


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## salutatout

لا شكر على واجب
No need to thank, it's my pleasure
عفواً
certainly!

You only translate the meaning


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## Katie1917

What a difference this expresses between Arabic and Western attitudes! Arabic isn't shy of talking about "duty" in a  moral sense - Kantwise - while the West invokes "pleasure" to express more or less the same thing. Perhaps a halfwayhouse translation, might be "it's the least I could do"?


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## cherine

It's not only the "don't thank me for doing my duty" لا شكر على واجب that we use, some people say عفوًا (like "pardon", as in: it's embarrassing to be thanked, you don't need to thank me) which in Egypt is pronounced el3affo العفو. In the Egyptian dialect we also have أي خدمة which is like "glad to be of help/service". I've even heard اللي انتي عايزاه a few times, which is literally "whatever you wish/want", which sounded weird to me, but it's apparently a thing some people used (the couple of times I heard it was by merchants).


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## Katie1917

Thank you for your wonderful explanation. I'd just taken عفوًا on trust, since different languages use the same expression for different purposes, but I love your gloss on it. Also, do you not pronounce an N at the end of  عفوًا  in the Egyptian dialect? I'm a complete beginner (6 months of study), so forgive me if I say anything idiotic. Is  أي خدمة  a question? I ask, because Google Translate says "any service" for it.


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## cherine

Katie1917 said:


> do you not pronounce an N at the end of  عفوًا  in the Egyptian dialect?


Yes, we do, when we use it but it's rare to say 3afwan, as el-3affo is more common.


> Is  أي خدمة  a question? I ask, because Google Translate says "any service" for it.


No it's not a question. It's like "you can ask me for any favor" or "I'm at your service for anything".


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