be thankful to sb

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi teachers,

Can we say: “be thankful to sb”? I think we can’t but I am not sure. I consulted the Oxford dictionary and could not find.

Many thanks.

2

Why don’t you think you can?

3

Thank you, BN.

Because there was no example in that dictionary and moreover “thankful for sth/thankful to do sth”.

4

Hi Bev,

Here Alan hinted that “thankful” is not used the way the Untaught1988 wanted to use it (if I understood him correctly).
Grateful/thankful

5

Hi OTS,

Thank you for digging out my comment of some 9 years back! I could say that I am grateful to you and I would not say I am thankful to you. If I could add a bit more, I would change both adjectives into adverbs to show the difference: grateful = expressing thanks/gratitude but thankful = expressing a sense of relief.

1 Gratefully we accepted the offer of food and drink at the house after our long journey.

2 Thankfully we reached the house after our long journey before the storm broke.

Alan