English Help Online's Blog

The adjective for this week is one which is often misunderstood. Many people think that the word “thoughtful” means that someone thinks a lot about various things, but this is not the accurate meaning. This word is actually used to talk about a person who thinks about another person’s feelings and does something nice for them in order to be kind. For example:

My aunt is such a thoughtful person. She often sends me things that she thinks I will like.

A: I brought you a blanket because I thought you might be cold.

B: Thank you! That’s so thoughtful of you!

________________________________________________________________

A: Is Mr. Parker a thoughtful boss?

B: Well, not always but, last week, he let me go home early because I had a headache. That was very thoughtful of him.

It’s important to note that when a person is being thoughtful, they do the nice thing voluntarily; they don’t do it because someone asked them to do it. Therefore, in the first example, the person did NOT ask the aunt to send her anything; in the second example, the person did NOT ask for a blanket; and in the third example, the person did NOT ask the boss to go home early.