Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell grateful

Grateful is spelled G-R-A-T-E-F-U-L.

hear itgrate·ful/'greɪtfəl/adjectiveLong vowels

What it means: Feeling thankful for someone or something.

In a sentence: I am grateful for my family and friends.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear.

Same family: gratitude, gratefully, ungrateful, thankful, appreciative. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: Grateful comes from the Latin root *gratus*, meaning 'pleasing' or 'thankful.' The common mistake 'greatful' happens because 'grate' and 'great' sound the same in English, but only 'grateful' is correct.

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