ENGLISH
REFERENCE

thanks to sb/sth

prep. phr..
B1 Intermediate Oxford

prep. phr.. you use this to say that someone or something is the reason why something happened. It is often used for good results, but it can also be used for bad ones.

prep. phr.. a multi-word preposition used to attribute a cause or reason to a person or thing. While frequently used for positive outcomes, it can also be used ironically to assign blame.


SIMPLE

Thanks to your help, I finished the project on time.

CONTEXTUAL

The outdoor concert was a huge success, thanks to the beautiful weather and the hard work of the volunteers.

COMPLEX

The company managed to avoid bankruptcy thanks to a timely intervention by the central bank and a sudden surge in consumer demand.

Usage

followed by a noun or a pronoun; can appear at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence.

Teaching tip

point out that while 'thanks' sounds like a polite expression of gratitude, in this phrase it functions as a causal marker similar to 'because of'.

Pitfall

Thanks for the rain, we got wet.Thanks to the rain, we got wet.'thanks for' is used to show gratitude for a gift or action, while 'thanks to' explains the cause of a situation.

© 2026 English Reference