Hi, everyone, this is Prof. Zheng Xinmin, broadcasting from Fuzhou. In today's programme, we're going to learn the difference between the words "grateful" and "thankful". We also prepare a short video for you to learn the word "grateful" in detail.
OK，first of all, let me tell you a story about gratitude from Aesop's Fables, which is called "Androcles and the Lion". In the story, an escaped slave named Androcles stumbles upon a lion in the forest. The lion is in great pain, and Androcles discovers that the lion has a large thorn stuck in his paw. Androcles removes it for him. Later, both are captured, and Androcles is sentenced to be "thrown to the lion." Even though the lion is ravenous or hungry, he merely licks his friend's hand in greeting. The Emperor, astonished, sets both of them free.
Well, now, let's come to learn the difference between the words "graceful" and "thankful". Both "grateful" and "thankful" are positive feelings and both of them are triggered by some event. If you look them up in the dictionaries, probably you will find that being thankful is a synonym for being grateful, and being grateful is a synonym for being thankful. But the difference between them is that by definition "grateful" is directed outwards the person who is feeling it, while thankful is generated inside the person. This indicates that "grateful「 and "thankful」 are not always interchangeble.
To be more specific, we are grateful for something a person does for us. When someone does something nice for us, we can be grateful. It is a more concrete feeling.Being thankful also applies to this scenario, but can also be applied for being thankful in general. It is unnecessary to get a person involved in. OK, let's look at the following two examples:
Anna closed the door, thankful that the evening was over.
I'm grateful to you for what you have done for me.
Alright, if you have further interest, you might watch our video and learn how to use the word "grateful" in detail. Thank you for watching.