how to spell: grateful
Which is correct?
greatful
gratefull
grateful
Why we spell it like this.
We spell grateful like this and not like its soundalike greatful because it comes from Latin 'gratus" meaning pleasing or thankful.
An easy way to remember the spelling is to remember it's related to gratitude (can you see the grat in there?). Or see the word within grate > rate. It's hard to rate how grateful I am.
Word family: grateful, ungrateful, gratefully, gratitude, ingratitude, ingrate
Spelling Rules
Use your knowledge of spelling rules, root words, prefixes, and suffixes to build words in the word family.
grateful
There's only one l in the -ful suffix ending: grateful, thankful, useful, careful.
grateful = grate + ful (only one l in the -ful suffix) and no dropping the 'e' with consonant suffixes. But like all spelling rules there are exceptions, which we'll see in other commonly misspelled word lessons.
We can add the un prefix: un + grate + ful = ungrateful. They're so ungrateful. Don’t be ungrateful.
We can add -ly: grate + ful + ly = gratefully and this is when we have a double l.
Sentences
I’m so grateful for all your help.
All contributions will be gratefully received.
If you could get that report finished by Thursday, I'd be very grateful.
After the earthquake, we felt grateful to be alive.
I'm just grateful that I'm not still working for him.
I'd be eternally grateful if you could arrange it.
Click here to go to the Adding -ful (Only use full when full) lesson.
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