merci de v. merci pour le/la/les,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Question

I answered "merci du" in this question but was marked incorrect when in face the lesson states an equivalence between the two. Please explain.....
5________ cadeau, je l'aime beaucoup.Thank you for the gift, I like it a lot.Merci pour leMerci du

Cécile Janty-Davies · Accepted Answer

Merci de/pour votre question, Max!
This is a tricky one to explain. You would never say "merci du cadeau" but "merci pour le cadeau".
To simplify things and according to the Académie française :
Use Merci de 
1. When it is followed by a verb in the infinitive ( present or past)

Merci de m'avoir invité/e ! = Thanks for inviting me! 
Merci de venir à 16 heures pile. = Please come at 4 pm on the dot.

2. With  abstract nouns

Merci de votre attention ! = Thank you for listening!
Merci de votre aide ! = Thank you for your help!
Merci de votre obligeance ! = Thank you for obliging me!

3. Use Merci pour with concrete nouns

Merci pour les chocolats !
Merci pour le cadeau ! 
Merci pour les fleurs !

This is the same if you use the verb remercier (to say thank you)
Hope this helps!

Max Kime · Answer

Cutting to the chase, use "merci pour" only where there is a concrete item for which you are thanking someone? Very helpful.

Max Kime · Answer

Ok, however, I see the following in the lesson:
Merci pour votre compréhension.Thank you for your understanding.
"Votre compréhension" is an abstact rather than concrete noun. Your advice seems to clearly contradict the lesson I have just pasted in. I have no dog in this fight. Either sounds fine to this non-native speaker and there is certainly no loss in meaning. I would be pleased to hear other opinions. I'll try some prescriptivist googling of MERCI DE & MERCI POUR and see what comes up. French is a moving target!

Max Kime · Answer

Reading the lesson further I find "- either de or pour is colloquial with abstract nouns (votre compréhension, patience, gentillesse...), with merci de being a bit more elegant.- merci pour is the one you use with actual things (le cadeau, la carte...)
That sounds copasetic. While you have contradicted the lesson, I am in thrall to your rule: It just sounds better to this non-native ear.
In any even, the lesson rule might be restated as follows:
Use pour after merci where the thing you are giving thanks for is a concrete object. In all other cases, prefer de for elegance and pour as you wish.
God, I love this language!