thank
v.-
1 to express gratitude (v.) A1 Beginnerto tell someone you are happy or grateful for what they did.
to express appreciation or gratitude toward a person for a service, gift, or kindness.
ExampleI forgot to thank my brother for the birthday present he sent me.
ExampleThe CEO took a moment during the annual gala to personally thank the volunteers who had made the event possible.
UsageTakes a direct object (the person) often followed by 'for' and the reason.
PitfallI thanked to him for the help.I thanked him for the help.The verb 'thank' is transitive and takes a direct object; do not use the preposition 'to' before the person.
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2 to hold responsible (v.) B2 Upper Intermediateto say that someone or something is the reason for a situation, often a bad one.
to credit or hold a person or factor responsible for a specific outcome, frequently used with ironic or negative connotations.
ExampleWe have the heavy rain to thank for our flooded basement.
ExampleThe candidate suggested that the voters had the previous administration's failed policies to thank for the current economic downturn.
UsageOften used in the pattern 'have someone/something to thank for'.
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3 polite command (v.) C1 Advanced Formal British Englisha firm way to ask someone to do something or to stop doing something.
used in the future tense to express a firm request, command, or criticism regarding someone's behaviour.
ExampleI will thank you to keep your opinions to yourself in the future.
ExampleThe professor informed the student that he would thank him to arrive on time for the remaining seminars.
UsageTypically used in the form 'will thank you to [verb]'.
From Middle English thank (“gratitude; expression of gratitude, thanks; attractiveness; commendation, praise; God’s grace; goodwill; merit, reward; mind, thought”), from Old English þanc (“gratitude; expression of gratitude, thanks; favour, grace; mind, thought; pleasure, satisfaction”), from Proto-Germanic þankaz (“gratitude; expression of gratitude, thanks; mind, thought; remembrance”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European teng- (“to perceive; to think”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tonk (“thanks”), West Frisian tanke (“thanks”), Cimbrian dånke (“thanks”), Dutch dank (“thanks”), German Dank (“thanks”), Yiddish דאַנק (dank, “thanks”), Danish tak (“thanks”), Elfdalian tokk (“thanks”), Faroese takk, tøkk (“thanks”), Icelandic takk, þökk (“thanks”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk takk (“thanks”), Swedish tack (“thanks”), Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌲𐌺𐍃 (þagks, “thanks”), Vandalic *þank- (“thanks”); also Latin tongeō (“to know”). For the think — thank relation, compare typologically Russian призна́тельный (priznátelʹnyj) (< знать (znatʹ).
From Middle English thanken, thankien (“to express gratitude, give thanks; to congratulate, rejoice with, or wish joy to; to extol, praise; to hold responsible for”), from Old English þancian, þoncian (“to thank”), from Proto-West Germanic þankōn, from Proto-Germanic þankōną (“to thank”), from þankaz (see etymology 1) + -ōną (suffix forming infinitives of verbs from nouns). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian tonkje (“to thank”), Cimbrian dånkan (“to thank”), Dutch, German, and Luxembourgish danken (“to thank”), Yiddish דאַנקען (danken, “to thank”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål takke (“to thank”), Faroese takka (“to thank”), Icelandic þakka (“to thank”), Swedish tacka (“to thank”).