Gracias a Dios

Question

How does gracias a Dios mean thank God instead of thank at God or gracias Dios, I don't understand why a is used.

Answer 1

Yes, Nancy answered perfectly, it means, thank god,, if you say "Gracias Dios" you would be addressing God directly in a prayer or soliloquy.

Answer 2

Hola, xxC,

It's one of those expressions you can't translate literally.

It means "¡thank heavens!"

Answer 3

The literal translation is ""Thanks to God"", not ""Thanks at God""

Answer 4

"A" doesn't always have a specific meaning, it also goes between a verb and it's object if the object is alive. So in theory, it is merely saying "thank God", but a more literal translation that fits in English might be "Thanks be to God", which I occasionally hear people say.

Or even praise the Lord :-) - afowen, Mar 7, 2011

Answer 5

It's important to note that thank God is used differently to gracias a Dios.

Off the top of my head, thank God is used in English if something good has come of a bad or potentially bad situation. Some examples:

It's just started to pour with rain, thank God we just got the roof fixed.

Did you hear about the accident, thank God we weren't on the train.

Dave just passed his driving test. Thank God for that, it was his 22nd attempt.

I'm not saying it's limited to this usage but that is how I understand it.

In Colombia it's normal to hear:

¿Cómo estás? Bien, gracias a Dios.

And other things generally accrediting God with anything that might be good...