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Is it correct to say:

You're welcome, it has been my pleasure helping you out!

Or is this more correct:

You're welcome, it has been my pleasure to help you out!

Or are both fine?

Greenonline
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Simon
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  • Both are fine. You will commonly hear it this way, "You're welcome, it's been a pleasure to help you." –  Feb 10 '15 at 13:34
  • You're welcome, Simon, it's been a pleasure to help you. :-) –  Feb 10 '15 at 14:22

3 Answers3

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You might find more info at the following questions and their duplicates:

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/106257/helping-improve-or-help-to-improve

"Help rule out" vs. "help to rule out"

What is the correct way to use infinitive after the verb "help": with or without "to"?

Little Eva's comment is correct. However, I'll just point out that, technically, neither are correct, because they both contain a comma splice.

To fix this, you might use a semicolon:

You're welcome; it has been my pleasure helping you out!

Or split it up into multiple sentences:

You're welcome. It has been my pleasure to help you out!

I think you were referring to spoken English anyway, so it probably doesn't matter, but I figured I'd point it out.

Community
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Kevin Workman
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  • +1, Kevin. I assumed (with no hard evidence) that OP was referring to the common spoken response used in the work-place, where formality would actually be somewhat counter-productive. I'm glad that, while arriving at the same conclusion, you also accounted for the alternative. –  Feb 12 '15 at 03:49
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Actually, I'd say neither.

"You're welcome. It has been my pleasure to help you!", or even "You're welcome. It has been my pleasure to help!" with the "you" dropped, since it is obvious in context.

WhatRoughBeast
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  • ... and the "out"? –  Feb 12 '15 at 03:52
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    Unnecessary. And, for what it's worth, I remember (from the long ago days of my youth) seeing the sign behind the manager's counter in an apartment complex which read, "If you can't pay this month's rent, please tell the Manager and he will be glad to help you out." That is, he will evict you (as in, help you out of your apartment), so I've always been uncomfortable with the phrase. – WhatRoughBeast Feb 12 '15 at 04:14
  • yeah yeah! LoL :-) –  Feb 12 '15 at 04:28
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"helping you" is more active and engaging—it's appropriate when the person worked with you to help you. It subtly suggests that it was a process.

"help you" is neutral, regardless how the help was provided.

Keep in mind that "...you out" is vernacular.

Martin Krzywinski
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