dankt

Dankt is the third-person singular present tense form of the German verb danken, meaning to thank. It is used with a dative recipient, for example: Er dankt dem Lehrer (He thanks the teacher) or Sie dankt ihm herzlich (She thanks him warmly). The present tense conjugation of danken includes: ich danke, du dankst, er/sie/es dankt, wir danken, ihr dankt, sie danken.

In addition to indicating who is being thanked, German often specifies the reason with the preposition für and an accusative object: Ich danke dir für deine Hilfe (I thank you for your help). The verb danken is not separable; it remains a single unit in conjugation and subordinate clauses. Danken governs the dative case for the recipient, while any objects being thanked for use the accusative with für.

Etymology: The verb danken originates in the Germanic language family and is cognate with the English verb to thank. It has appeared in German since the Old High German period and has parallels in related languages such as Dutch danken.

Usage notes: Dankt appears most commonly in third-person present-tense statements and in narratives describing someone giving thanks. Standard German orthography uses lowercase dankt unless it starts a sentence. In quotation or dialogue, the same forms apply according to the subject.

See also: danken, Dankbarkeit, Dank.