'Thank God' or 'Thanks, God'? What Is the Difference? | Mastering Grammar

(Last Updated: 10 April 2023)

Thank God or Thanks, God: What Is the Difference?

Thank God (or thank goodness/heaven(s)) is an idiom used for expressing happiness or relief that something bad has been avoided or has ended:

✅ Thank God it's Friday!

✅ Thank God you found your wallet.

✅ I passed the exam. Thank God!

✅ Thank God nobody was hurt in the explosion.

✅ That psychopath has been sentenced to life imprisonment and will no longer be able to hurt people, thank God.

The only circumstance in which we might say thanks, God is if we are speaking directly to God. Even then, we would be more likely to say thank you, Lord.

Examples from the Media

Thank God the summer holidays are over and kids are going back to school. —The Independent (2021)

Thank God, I am back in the classroom again. —The Washington Post (2021)

Well, thank God 2016 is finally over and done with. It was a terrible year, truly an annus horribilis, a plague year, a Lord of the Flies year, a time when political pestilence and death seemed to cover the earth, a second ozone layer of fear and distrust. —CBC (2017)

During a marathon rally of sermonizing, singing and praying, the men also repeatedly sobbed and hugged each other—or, more joyously, slapped high-fives while repeating the chant "Thank God I'm a man!" —The New York Times (1996)

Real-World Examples of Misuse