AEE 2420: Grateful to or Grateful For? What’s the Difference?

Summary

All Ears English Podcast: Episode AEE 2420 – Grateful to or Grateful For? What’s the Difference?

Hosts: Lindsay McMahon and Michelle Kaplan
Release Date: June 4, 2025
Description: Dive into the nuances of expressing gratitude in American English with Lindsay and Michelle. This episode explores the subtle differences between “grateful to” and “grateful for,” enhancing your understanding and usage of these commonly interchanged phrases.

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1. Introduction and Listener Engagement (00:00 – 02:22)

The episode begins with the hosts, Lindsey McMahon and Aubrey Carter, introducing the topic of gratitude. They establish a friendly and engaging atmosphere by sharing personal things they are grateful for, setting the tone for an in-depth discussion on the subject.

• Lindsey McMahon (00:05): “Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection.”

• Aubrey Carter (01:33): “I am grateful for public school in the United States...”

• Lindsey McMahon (02:08): “I'm grateful for physical movement, being able to... feel better mentally.”

2. Listener Question: Grateful vs. Thankful (02:35 – 04:14)

A listener named Asami from Tokyo poses a question regarding the difference between “grateful” and “thankful,” and the appropriate prepositions to use with each. The hosts express excitement about addressing this nuanced topic.

• Lindsey McMahon (02:35): “I've been listening to your podcast for seven years... what preposition should I use with grateful and thankful?”

• Aubrey Carter (03:10): “First of all, often grateful and thankful are used interchangeably, but there is a slight difference.”

3. Exploring “Thankful” vs. “Grateful” (04:14 – 11:35)

The hosts delve into the distinctions between “thankful” and “grateful,” emphasizing the depth and context in which each is used.

• Lindsey McMahon (04:26): “Thankful usually refers to a less profound, more of a passing feeling of appreciation.”

• Aubrey Carter (04:36): “Thankfulness is sometimes focused more on a specific event or a person.”

• Aubrey Carter (09:36): “Grateful implies a deeper and more long-lasting, more sustained sense of appreciation.”

• Lindsey McMahon (10:35): “This is a real nuance. You could get away with saying like...”

Prepositional Usage:

• Thankful to: Used when referring to a person or organization for something specific.

  • Example: “I’m thankful to my son’s teacher for helping him succeed.” (06:06)

• Thankful for: Used to express appreciation for something more general or specific events.

  • Example: “I’m thankful for the nice weather.” (07:22)

• Grateful to: Often reserved for deeper, more significant sentiments towards people or organizations.

  • Example: “I’m grateful to my parents for all they’ve done for me.” (10:07)

• Grateful for: Used to express sustained appreciation for broader aspects of life or significant things.

  • Example: “I’m grateful for my health.” (11:50)

4. Role-Playing Demonstration (12:55 – 16:23)

To illustrate the practical application of “grateful” and “thankful,” the hosts enact a Thanksgiving dinner scenario. This role-play highlights how the choice of words can convey different emotional depths.

• Aubrey Carter (13:19): “Would anyone like to share something they're grateful for?”

• Lindsey McMahon (13:23): “I’m grateful to you for inviting me to this lovely dinner.”

• Aubrey Carter (13:26): “Oh, I’m thankful you came.”

This exchange showcases the subtle shift from a deep feeling of gratitude to a more immediate and specific thankfulness.

5. Takeaways and Conclusion (16:23 – 17:10)

The episode wraps up with key insights and encouragement to practice expressing gratitude, supported by references to neuroscience research validating its positive impact on mental well-being.

• Aubrey Carter (16:30): “Expressing gratitude is one of the best ways to connect in English...”

• Lindsey McMahon (16:46): “There is neuroscience that proves that you then start searching for things that you're grateful for. And it does rewire your brain.”

• Aubrey Carter (17:04): “Can't argue with neuroscience.”

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Key Insights:

1. Depth of Emotion:

   • Grateful: Conveys a deeper, more sustained sense of appreciation.
   • Thankful: Reflects a more immediate or specific feeling of appreciation.

2. Prepositional Nuances:

   • “Thankful to” and “Grateful to” are typically directed towards people or organizations.
   • “Thankful for” and “Grateful for” address things, events, or broader aspects of life.

3. Practical Application:

   • Use “grateful” for significant, long-term appreciations.
   • Opt for “thankful” when expressing immediate or specific gratitude.

4. Psychological Benefits:

   • Regularly expressing gratitude can enhance mental well-being and foster a positive mindset.

Conclusion:

Understanding the nuanced differences between “grateful” and “thankful” enhances your ability to express appreciation more accurately and meaningfully in American English. By selecting the appropriate term and preposition, you can convey the depth of your gratitude effectively, fostering better connections and a more positive outlook.

Join the All Ears English community to continue improving your English fluency through engaging and practical discussions. Remember, it's about connection, not perfection!

Transcript

[Aubrey Carter]

This is an Allers English podcast. Episode 24 20. Grateful to or grateful for? What's the difference?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Welcome to the All Ears English podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection. With your American host, Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz, and Lindsey McMahon, the English adventurer, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, usa. And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com subscribe today we answer a listener question about the difference between two similar phrases. Plus find out how to cultivate more happiness in your life and through your connections.

[Aubrey Carter]

Are you still translating from your native language into English in your head? Are you always getting confused between the different grammar tenses? Let's figure out what you need to work on. Find your current English level with our five minute quiz at allearsenglish.com fluencyscore foreign.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Hey, Aubry, how are you today?

[Aubrey Carter]

I'm great. How are you, Lindsay?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Good. Aubry, what is something that you're grateful for?

[Aubrey Carter]

Oh, man, I am grateful for public school in the United States. I have met a couple of people who homeschool lately, so they are teaching their children school during the day at home. And I don't, I just don't understand. I could never. I love my children, but it's really helpful to have sometime to miss each other during the day. And so I'm impressed. Any parent who's patient enough to teach their children all day and then have them all weekend and then like, it couldn't be me, but I'm impressed.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Impressive.

[Aubrey Carter]

It is impressive.

[Lindsey McMahon]

You know what I'm grateful for? I'm grateful for physical movement, being able to, like, you know, having my just being able to physically move because when I move, I feel better mentally. If I go for a walk, I feel better. So I'm grateful for my health.

[Aubrey Carter]

Absolutely. Yes, definitely. Two good things to be grateful for. We got a great question about some of the words we use when expressing gratitude that do have a subtle difference. So I'm excited to dive into this today.

[Lindsey McMahon]

All right, I'm gonna go ahead and read the question. This is from Asami from Tokyo, Japan. All right. I've been listening to your podcast for seven years, Aubry.

[Aubrey Carter]

That's amazing.

[Lindsey McMahon]

That is awesome. Oh my gosh, we're so happy to have a seven year listener. Impressive. All right, thank you for answering some of my questions on the show before today. I have another question I'm not sure about the difference between grateful and thankful. Also, what preposition should I use with grateful and thankful? I'd love to hear your clarification in a future episode. Thank you all so much. Best, Asami. Beautiful.

[Aubrey Carter]

I know. I love this question. This is so fascinating on so many levels. First of all, this vocabulary is very interesting, but also, we want to be expressing gratitude. Right. A great way to connect with others to express that you're grateful for them or grateful to them for something. But you do need the right vocab. You need to know which prepositions to use because the meaning will be slightly different.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. And not to mention, you know, the. The neuroscience side of things, if we spend time expressing what we're grateful for, we build that muscle in our mind. The neurons come together, and then we start searching for other things we're grateful for. And it actually shifts your mindset. It makes you a happier person.

[Aubrey Carter]

Absolutely. I feel that. I feel that as I express or if you fill out a gratitude journal, you feel your mindset to that attitude of gratitude. We talk about it.

[Lindsey McMahon]

It's pretty amazing. Yeah. So, guys, go ahead and hit the follow button right now to. To let us know that you're grateful for our show. Right. And also to make sure you don't stop following Allers English. Follow the show. Get five episodes a week. All right, good stuff.

[Aubrey Carter]

Awesome. So let's answer the question here. First of all, often grateful and thankful are used interchangeably, but there is a slight difference. So first of all, thankful. How do we use thankful? Lindsay.

[Lindsey McMahon]

All right, so usually thankful refers to a less profound, more of a passing feeling of appreciation. It could be a response to a specific act or a benefit.

[Aubrey Carter]

Okay, Exactly. Yes. Right. Thankfulness is sometimes focused more on a specific event or a person. And then gratitude. We'll talk about that in a moment. That. That is more broad.

[Lindsey McMahon]

More.

[Aubrey Carter]

More appreciation for life in general. For, like, deeper things.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Okay. Like for Thanksgiving. Right. We often say, what are you thankful for today? Right. In that case, I feel like I could say I'm grateful for my family.

[Aubrey Carter]

That's where they are often used interchangeably. Right. So the good news is you can pretty well use either or and it is going to work, right? You're sharing your grateful. Whichever you say. But native English speakers will often choose one or the other. So we're going to share why that is, why there is this slight difference to today.

[Lindsey McMahon]

All right, let's get into it. Aubrey, where do we start today?

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah. So when it comes to thankfulness, right, it's usually expressed through words or Actions. The other thing to think about is we talk about gratitude often being more like a mindset, someone's overall mindset. They're like grateful for the world and that's affecting how they're acting. And thankfulness we don't really talk about on such a broad scale. Right. But so we're going to first talk about thankful with some examples. Keeping in mind what Lindsay said, that often we can swap this out for grateful. They're pretty interchangeable, but with the different prepositions we use. So first of all, thankful to. When would we say we're thankful to.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. So thankful to a person for something that they've done. So for example, I'm thankful to my son's teacher for helping him succeed. Okay.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah. Or he was thankful to his daughter for the birthday card. But really it's thankful to a person or even an organization. I'm thankful to this company, I'm thankful to this country. We can say that as well. Often we'll use grateful instead because those might be bigger feelings. But you could, you could say thankful to. It's just something that has been done either sort of generally by a country or something like that. Or by a person.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Nice. I like it. Yeah. And then thankful to be something would be our next category. So he's thankful to be a part of their group.

[Aubrey Carter]

Right. Or she was thankful to be working for such a good company. So this often we're. It's very similar. Right. We're either thankful to a person for something or we'll. We're thankful to be something. This might be an emotion. I'm thankful to be happy today. I'm thankful to be healthy today. Mobile today. Like you said, Lindsay. Yes.

[Lindsey McMahon]

I love it. And again, don't forget, they can be interchanged for sure. So these are not hard and fast rules, but these are nice categories where we can start to imagine examples. Next one is thankful for something. Like at the Thanksgiving dinner table, we might say, what are you thankful for? Right. Share that. I'm thankful for my neighbors. What else? Aubry.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah. Or we're thankful for the nice weather. So it's interesting when you're thinking about the prepositions, if you're talking about something specific a neighbor did, you'd say, I'm thankful to my next door neighbor for being such a good person, for being there for me. And then if you're talking more generally, I'm thankful for my neighbors in general.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes. Yeah. So we can make our sentences a little bit more complex there. Right?

[Aubrey Carter]

Exactly. Yes.

[Lindsey McMahon]

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[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah, grateful implies a deeper and more long lasting, more sustained sense of, of thankfulness, of appreciation. So that mindset of appreciat appreciation for something.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Okay. Yeah. So often we're saying this to a person. So we're grateful to a person for something they've done. For example, I'm grateful to my parents for all they've done for me. And yeah, if you really reflect on, you know, at least many people, like think about what your parents have done for you over your lifetime is kind of amazing.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah, right? It's so true. And this is where it does get interesting. The different when a native speaker would use grateful instead of thankful. So it would be. It would feel a little strange for me to say I I'm thankful to my parents for all they've done for me because that does feel more momentary, not quite as big. And I don't think my mom would be like thankful, why aren't you saying grateful? But there is this little bit of a feeling that it's a smaller feeling. So I would say grateful always. I'm grateful to my parents for all they've done.

[Lindsey McMahon]

And this is a real nuance. So you could get away with saying that like you said, your mom's not going to say, oh, you're using that wrong.

[Aubrey Carter]

Right.

[Lindsey McMahon]

She's going to say, oh, thank you for saying that. Right. But. So there's a nuance. But we like to share the nuances of English here on this show, right?

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah. Right. And this is interesting because when I first started planning this episode, I was like, oh, they're interchangeable. They mean exactly the same thing. And then I started thinking about some of these examples and googling. I'm seeing people saying like, oh, gratitude is this bigger feeling. And I started really thinking about, you know, would I say I'm thankful to my mom or grateful to my mom? And I'm like, I agree that this is. Grateful in general is used for bigger, more sustained appreciation. Deeper, bigger feelings.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Deeper, bigger. It's. And thankful. So a little bit more superficial, right? A little more superficial, yeah. What's one more example?

[Aubrey Carter]

We might say he said he's grateful to his friends for their support. So if he's really going through something, Grateful for this sport. Support. Yes. You could say thankful. But it does feel like a little bit of a smaller emotion.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. It's like if you say that to them, they're gonna feel that more deeply. If you say the word grateful rather than thankful. Slightly. Yeah. I love it. Number two, Next one. Grateful for something. Right. I'm grateful for my parents. I'm grateful for my health. What else? Aubry?

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah, she's grateful for his honesty. Right. All of these bigger emotions. Yes. You could say, I'm thankful for my parents, but grateful just feel. It's very subtle. Does feel bigger.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah. And I guess there would be times when it would be inappropriate to use like in these examples. So you're. So another example. I'm thankful you arrived early. If you said, I'm grateful you arrived early. It's too big. The word's too big for that scenario.

[Aubrey Carter]

Great point, Lindsay. Right. Because this should be sort of a fleeting. You're thanking someone for something. It would be straight, like every time you're like, thanks, thank you. To be like, I'm grateful for you would be strange.

[Lindsey McMahon]

It's too much. It's too much. You might think people just gotta step back from you. What else, Aubry, what else?

[Aubrey Carter]

And then we just want to point out that we often use these with no preposition at all. Right. I'm thankful you arrived early. I'm grateful you invited me, or I'm grateful that you invited me. So often we don't have a preposition. We're just saying what we're grateful or thankful happened. Yes.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes. Wow. This is really nuanced. I love it. Let's do a role play and start to look at the differences one more time.

[Aubrey Carter]

So just like you mentioned, we often talk about gratitude at Thanksgiving in the United States, so this is perfect. You and I are at a Thanksgiving dinner.

[Lindsey McMahon]

It's the first thing that comes to mind when I think of the word thankful is Thanksgiving.

[Aubrey Carter]

Absolutely. It's good to at least have one day to, like, really focus on it. Even though we should be practicing gratitude throughout the year, right?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yes, of course. All right.

[Aubrey Carter]

Would anyone like to share something they're grateful for?

[Lindsey McMahon]

Well, Aubry, I'm grateful to you for inviting me to this lovely dinner.

[Aubrey Carter]

Oh, I'm thankful you came.

[Lindsey McMahon]

I'm also grateful to be surrounded by so many amazing friends.

[Aubrey Carter]

Same. I'm grateful for all of you.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Nice. Maybe this was a friends giving. Like, sometimes people do friends giving. Right. Maybe they can't travel to their family, or they're not close to their family. Their friends become their family, and they call it a friends giving.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah. We did that in New York City. We were in New York City for a couple of Thanksgivings, and our family was all very far, so we had a Thanksgiving. It was very fun, except my husband was vegan, and we had to have a tofurkey. It was like a turkey made of tofu, and it was disgusting. No offense to anyone who loves tofurkey. It wasn't for me.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Interesting.

[Aubrey Carter]

Or maybe I didn't prepare it correctly.

[Lindsey McMahon]

So the whole group had to have tofurkey. It. Was your husband the only one that was.

[Aubrey Carter]

No, we did. We did have a turkey as well for others, but I tried the tofurkey, and it did not win the competition of entrees.

[Lindsey McMahon]

It's hard. It's hard. Oh, wow. That's so funny. Great. So, yeah, friendsgivings are fun. I had one in Boston, too. It's so it's a very different vibe and dynamic than with your family. Of course. So it's fun.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yes.

[Lindsey McMahon]

What did we say here? Aubry?

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah. I first said, would anyone like to share something they're grateful for? So this. We're maybe sitting around the table. I'm like, oh, some. You know, let's start saying what we're grateful for. Sometimes we do this at Thanksgiving dinner, and it's interesting to choose grateful here. I'm sort of. Of asking everyone to. To share, like, the bigger things we're grateful for, the bigger emotions. Right. And of course, you could then just be like, oh, I'M thankful for this turkey. But you probably wouldn't say grateful for the turkey, like for the food, because it's a bigger emotion. It's. It's more long lasting grateful for.

[Lindsey McMahon]

You could get away with it, like we said. Right. You could get away with it. But yeah, we kind of want our words to match our emotions or how profound our statements are. Right. That's what we go for at the B2, C1, C2 level.

[Aubrey Carter]

Right, right. And if you're going to say like, oh, I'm grateful for this wine, you might even be sort of trying to be funny, like intentionally using a word that's for like bigger emotions. Right. I'm sure we've all done that as well. So you're, you're going to hear natives use both as well. Native English speakers will use them quite interchangeably. But yeah, you can reserve grateful a little more for bigger feelings and know that you're going to get the tone right.

[Lindsey McMahon]

And then I said, well, Aubry, I'm grateful to you for inviting me to this lovely dinner. So I'm grate to you. Grateful to you. Good.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yes. And then I say, oh, I'm thankful you came. So this is with no preposition. Right. I could say I'm thankful that you came or I'm thankful to you for coming, but that gets really wordy. Would press like, oh, I'm thankful you came.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah, good. And then I said, I'm also grateful to be surrounded by so many amazing friends. Yes.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah. Another big emotion here. Like, I'm grateful for all of you. For all of you great friends. And then I said same, I'm grateful for all of you too. So these are bigger emotions. The one time we use thankful here, it's like, I'm thankful you came. Thanks for coming is what that means. Right. Which is the kind of smaller, more fleeting thing.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah, thanks is a little more fleeting than gratitude. I love it. Aubry, what's our takeaway for today?

[Aubrey Carter]

Well, I think expressing gratitude is one of the best ways to connect in English, like you said, Lindsay. It's also one of the best ways to have a positive mindset and stay in a positive head space. But also such a great way to connect to just talk with someone about what each of you are grateful for.

[Lindsey McMahon]

Yeah, it really does. It's incredible. Just try it. If you don't believe us, it really uplifts your heart. And then like we said, there is neuroscience that proves that you then start searching for things that you're grateful for. And it does rewire your brain. There's been some science done on this in recent years, so super.

[Aubrey Carter]

Can't argue with neuroscience.

[Lindsey McMahon]

You can't, you can't.

[Aubrey Carter]

And I've experienced it myself. So we can confirm that is. Yes.

[Lindsey McMahon]

All right. Great episode today, Aubrey. We'll talk to you very soon. Yes.

[Aubrey Carter]

See you guys next time.

[Lindsey McMahon]

All right, bye. Thanks for listening to Allears English. Would you like to know your English level? Take our two minute quiz. Go to allearsenglish.com forward SLF fluency score and if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss miss anything. See you next time.

[C]

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