*4.4.4 Expressing indebtedness*

This type is employed to express the speaker's indebtedness toward the addressee. The respondents mostly use the construction *je vous suis reconnaissant* "I am grateful," with variations regarding the intensity/sincerity and time frame of the indebtedness. While adverbs such as *vraiment*, *très*, etc., are used by the participants to express sincerity *as in j'en suis vraiment reconnaissant*/*je vous suis très reconnaissant* "I am really grateful," adverbs such as *infiniment, toujours, éternellement*, etc., seem to emphasize long-term indebtedness as in *je vous/te serai toujours reconnaissant* "I will always be grateful." Apart from these utterances, the respondents also employ constructions like: *Je te revaudrai ça* "I owe you,*" je te dois une fière chandelle* "I owe you," *je te suis redevable* "I owe you," *c'est une dette que j'ai envers vous* "It's a debt I owe you." The analysis also reveals that this strategy is highly recurrent in the professor situation. This could be explained by the nature of the situation and the type of favor granted to the speaker. The professor granted the student's request for extra time to submit an assignment. By choosing the expression of indebtedness, the student intends not only to stress the level of sincerity in gratitude expression but also to reinforce the student-professor relationship. This strategy seems to be vital in such situation as the student does not exclude the possibility of future requests of this nature. Therefore, using such a strategy not only convinces the addressee to accept the thanks. It also builds a solid platform for a harmonious student-professor collaboration.
