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What is de nada?

"De nada" is Spanish for "you're welcome."  If I were to do a literal translation, it would technically be translated as "of nothing."  "De" means "of" in Spanish, and nada means "nothing."  


In my Spanish classes, I remember my teacher also told us that the phrase could be interpreted as "no problem."  


Obviously a person is not going to randomly say "de nada." He or she would say it after somebody else says "thank you," which in Spanish is "gracias."  


So if I went to a Spanish speaking restaurant, I could ask for the bill by saying "la cuenta por favor." My waiter would bring me my bill, I would say "gracias," and he or she might respond by saying "de nada."  

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