Helping each other is one of the divine characteristics of being human. It shows one’s ability to understand another person’s situation and his or her generosity. Hence, the one who gets benefitted feels a sense of gratitude towards the one who helped him/her. Grateful and thankful are two similar terms that express this sense of gratitude.
What Does Grateful Mean?
Oxford dictionary defines grateful as “feeling or showing an appreciation for something done or received.” Similarly, Merriam Webster explains grateful as “appreciative of benefits received”. Thus, grateful is a feeling which always follows an action to show it.
Moreover, a person can show his or her feeling of gratefulness in many ways. For example, assume that someone helped you in some way. Being there with the person who helped you in his needy times, and giving that person some award or favor in return are two common ways of showing that you are grateful.
What does Thankful Mean?
Thankful is defined as “expressing gratitude and relief” by the Oxford dictionary. Merriam Webster also explains thankful as “conscious of benefit received” or “expressive of thanks”. Thus, it is clear that thankful highlights only the expression of gratitude to the one who helped as a result of being conscious of the benefit received.
Therefore, one who is thankful is conscious of the benefit he or she received and is expressive of it. Thus, it means they will express their thankful sentiment through words such as “I am thankful for your help”, “thank you very much for your help”, or giving a thank you card or even by a simple ‘Thank you’.
Similarity Between Grateful and Thankful
Both are concerned with the feeling of gratitude.
Both show that one is aware and appreciates the benefit he or she received from someone else.
Difference Between Grateful and Thankful
Definition
Grateful is the feeling or showing an appreciation for something done or received while thankful is the expressing gratitude and relief. Hence, this is the fundamental difference between grateful and thankful.
Expression
Grateful goes beyond the verbal expression of gratitude while thankful is framed within the verbal expression of gratitude or appreciation. This is a major difference between grateful and thankful.
Action
Being grateful to someone means that person also looks forward to showing his gratitude through actions while thankful is only an expression of gratitude, it does not go that deep as to show it through action.
Emotional Depth
Emotional depth is another difference between grateful and thankful. The feeling of gratefulness has more depth than the feeling of thankfulness.
Conclusion
Grateful and thankful are similar terms. However, they differ according to the way they are shown or expressed and depth of emotions. Thus, the main difference between grateful and thankful is that grateful puts more emphasis on the action to show gratitude while thankful is merely the expression of gratitude or appreciation through words. Therefore, someone being grateful will show it in their actions. On the other hand, someone who is thankful will only express it through their words.
The difference between 'Explain' and 'Describe'
The difference between explain and describe is a topic worth looking into as explain and describe carry similar meaning. In using the English language we often see these two words used as synonyms, but we should always remember that there is a difference between explain and describe. Now, if we look at these two words, both describe and explain are verbs. Explain has its origins in Late Middle English while describe has its origins in Late Middle English too. Describable and describer are derivatives of the word describe. In the same manner, explainable and explainer are derivatives of the word explain.
What does Explain mean?
Explain is a verb that cannot be used with two objects. It is wrong to say ‘he explains him something.’ On the other hand, it is the correct usage when you say ‘he explains something to him.’ Thus, it is understood that "explain" is a kind of verb that cannot be used with two objects. On the other hand, it is also a verb that is often followed by the preposition ‘to’ immediately after an object. This is an important observation when it comes to the usage of the verb explain. Bearing these facts in mind, observe the two sentences given below.
- I explained my problem to my teacher.
- I explained to my teacher about my problem.
The first sentence is the correct one when it comes to the usage of the verb explain. On the other hand, the second sentence is a wrong one when it comes to the usage of the verb explain.
The word explain is all about going into details. Moreover, the noun form of the verb explain is explanation. Then, it is interesting to note that the noun form of describe is followed often by the preposition ‘of’ in the formation of the expression, namely, ‘explanation of’.
What does Describe mean?
On the other hand, the verb describe suggests the detailed elucidation of the points or salient features of an event or an episode and the like. Unlike the word explain that is all about going into details, the word describe is all about the elucidation of features. Furthermore, the noun form of the verb describe is description. It is also interesting to note that the noun form of describe is followed often by the preposition ‘of’ in the formation of the expression, namely, ‘description of’. Here are some examples of the use of the word describe.
I described my experience in France in a newspaper article.
His accent was described as a British one.
What is the difference between Explain and Describe?
• Explain is a verb that cannot be used with two objects.
• On the other hand, explain is also a verb that is often followed by the preposition ‘to’ immediately after an object.
• The word explain is all about going into details. On the other hand, the verb describe suggests the detailed elucidation of the points or salient features of an event or an episode and the like. This is the main difference between the two words, namely, explain and describe.
• The noun form of the two words also differ in the sense that the noun form of the verb explain is an explanation, whereas the noun form of the verb describe, is description.
• It is interesting to note that the noun forms of both the verbs are often followed by the preposition ‘of’ in the formation of expressions, namely, ‘description of’ and ‘explanation of’.
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