Word Choice Pray vs. Prey

Word Choice Pray vs. Prey Word Choice: Pray vs. Prey The mantis is an interesting creature: It looks like it’s praying, but it’s really preying. Not sure of the difference between those activities? That’s okay. The words â€Å"pray† and â€Å"prey† sound identical, so it’s easy to get them mixed up in writing. But we’ve prepared this quick guide to clear things up. Please do not let the alien-looking killer insect thing distract you from the important topic of spelling.(Photo: ElinaElena) Pray (Appeal to God) The word â€Å"pray† is always a verb. Typically, it means â€Å"appeal to a god or another object of worship.† For example, we might say: The priest prayed for the health of her congregation. Here, we use â€Å"prayed† to mean â€Å"asked God for something.† But we can use it less literally to mean â€Å"ask or hope fervently for something.† For instance: We’ve organized a barbecue, so we’re praying for sunshine tomorrow. In this case, the speaker is still asking for something. But â€Å"praying for sunshine† is more likely to be a figurative expression of hope for clement weather than a literal appeal for divine intervention. Prey (Hunt or Victimize) â€Å"Prey† can be either a verb or a noun. As a verb, its main meaning is â€Å"act like a predator.† Usually, this refers to an animal hunting and killing something for food (i.e., predation). We can return to our insect friend here: The mantis preys on smaller insects, including spiders. More figuratively, we can use â€Å"prey† to mean â€Å"victimize† or â€Å"exploit†: Phone scammers often prey on the elderly. Here, we’re not saying that phone scammers kill and eat the elderly. Rather, â€Å"prey on† in this context means â€Å"target due to their perceived vulnerability.† As a noun, meanwhile, â€Å"prey† refers to the object of predation (i.e., the thing being preyed on). This applies in both the literal and figurative senses of predation set out above. For example: Rabbits are frequently prey for hawks and eagles. The mugger stalked his prey through the dark streets. In all cases, though, the word â€Å"prey† is related to predatory behavior. Summary: Pray or Prey? Although these words sound the same, they’re very distinct in meaning: To pray is to make an appeal to a god or an object of worship. In a non-religious context, â€Å"pray† can also mean â€Å"hope for something very much.† As a verb, prey means to hunt and kill something (usually for food), although it can mean â€Å"victimize† more generally. As a noun, â€Å"prey† is the subject of predatory behavior (i.e., the thing that is hunted). And if you’d like a little more help ensuring your work is error free, you can always send us a document for proofreading.