help with politeness

[bakaKanadajin]

せっかくですが、そんな高い物、いただけません。気持 ちだけありがたくちょうだいいたします.

Sorry for the romaji, I have no Japanese font at work.

My translation of this is something like..

"It was kind of you but, I cannot humbly receive something so nice (lit. 'high') But, I want to humbly thank you for the thought. (lit.'feeling')

I'm having trouble with the last part, arigatakuchoudaiitashimasu

I know that itasu is to humbly do, choudai I've heard before but I thought it was a casual expression for give, like 'wasabi choudai' (gimmie a lil' wasabi). Doesn't seem to fit with the polite. And the thing I really don't get is the arigataku. Is it related to arigatou? Like, arigatai or something with ku being the conjugated form? I never really stopped to think about what arigatou is as a word, but i guess since 'thank' is a verb in English arigatou can also be conjugated?

Thanks a lot!

[Libre]

bakaKanadajin:

Choudai is basically a polite noun.
Choudai itashimasu is very polite.
But when you use it at the end of an imperative sentence, it becomes casual.

Arigatai(有り難い) is an adjective meaning 'grateful'.
It is 有る(exist)+難い(hard), so it means hard to exist.
Arigataku is a form of adjective verb of it.
有り難うございます(Arigatou gozaimasu) is an euphonic change of 有り難くございます.

[nice gaijin]

I think that the translation is what's causing some confusion. Your first sentence is pretty close:
"It was kind of you but, I cannot humbly receive something so nice (lit. 'high') It was kind of you (to go to such lengths), but I cannot accept a gift so extravagant (lit. 'expensive').

I think the trouble arises in the second sentence:
But, I want to humbly thank you for the thought. (lit.'feeling')The sentence is not so much thanking the person for the thought, but rather saying that "your feeling is all that I want/need." Kind of like "it's the thought that counts."

literally,
気持ちだけ (just your feeling/thought) ありがたくちょうだいいたします (I gratefully request).

[bakaKanadajin]

Thanks guys that clears it up. :relief: :relief:

This polite stuff is incredibly complex at times, at the moment I just want to be able to grasp it properly when I see it, as its appearing in the material I'm studying. Using it effectively is probably a little ways down the road!

[nice gaijin]

Keigo is a beast; even native speakers have problems with it, and mistakes become so common as to go unnoticed (such as the ubiquitous "combini-keigo"). Understanding it is half the battle. Aside from some set-phrases, most people seem to get by without using it much. Being proficient in keigo could be a big boon, but don't sweat it too much! Keep up the good work.