Meaning & use
thankful to
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
Feeling grateful toward a particular person or group for something they have done.
Grammar: Followed by a noun or pronoun referring to the person: 'thankful to someone'. Do not use 'thankful to' before a thing; use 'thankful for' instead.
Patterns
- thankful to someone
- thankful to someone for something
I am thankful to my teacher for all her encouragement.
We are thankful to the doctors who saved his life.
She felt thankful to her friends for their support during that difficult time.
Common combinations
- thankful to someone for something
- He was thankful to his brother for lending him the money.
- deeply thankful to
- I am deeply thankful to everyone who helped us.
- thankful to God
- They were thankful to God for their safe return.
Synonyms and how they differ
- grateful to
- Very similar, but 'grateful' is a little more formal and often used in writing; 'thankful' is warmer and more personal.
- appreciative of
- Focuses on recognizing the value of something; it usually takes 'of', not 'to', and is more formal.
Word family
- thankfulness noun
- The feeling of being thankful.
- thankfully adverb
- In a thankful way, or (more commonly) 'fortunately'.
Commonly confused: thankful to or thankful for?
thankful to vs thankful for
'Thankful for' is used before the thing you are grateful for (e.g., 'thankful for your help'), while 'thankful to' is used before the person (e.g., 'thankful to you').
Practice
Complete the sentence: 'I am thankful ___ my parents ___ their support.'
Choose one answer.
Use 'thankful to' before the person and 'thankful for' before the thing. So 'thankful to my parents for their support' is correct. The other options mix up the prepositions.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “thankful to”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.