Prophecy Vs. Prophesy (Grammar Rules) - Writer's Digest

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Write Better NonfictionProphecy vs. Prophesy (Grammar Rules)

Learn when it’s appropriate to use prophecy vs. prophesy with Grammar Rules from the Writer’s Digest editors, including a few examples of correct and incorrect usages.

Robert Lee Brewer

Published Sep 7, 2019 8:44 PM EDTShare this story

I'm going to take a prophetic leap here and predict this post will not become one of our most popular grammar posts, but grammar is not intended to be a popularity contest. Rather, it's about figuring out how to correctly master language. So let's dig in.

(If you're curious, click here to view our 12 most popular grammar posts.)

Prophecy vs. Prophesy

Prophecy is a noun that means prediction. Specifically, it's a prediction that is delivered by a prophet, who is usually, though not always, a person instilled with their prognostic powers by a divine being. Prophecy tends to carry more weight than an everyday prediction, forecast, or educated guess.

Prophesy, on the other hand, is a verb that describes the action of making a prophetic prediction. As with the noun, a prophet most commonly prophesies under divine influence.

Here are a few examples:

Correct: The king often worried over the prophecy about his kingdom falling into darkness.Incorrect: The king often worried over the prophesy about his kingdom falling into darkness.

Correct: She prophesied, "The divine goddess will bless this marriage with enduring happiness."Incorrect: She prophecied, "The divine goddess will bless this marriage with enduring happiness."

As such, prophets can prophesy a prophecy, but they can't prophecy a prophesy.

Learn more in the online course, Grammar and Mechanics, from Writer's Digest University:

Share this storygrammarGrammar Rulesgrammar tipsRobert Lee BrewerAuthor Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of Solving the World's Problems, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.Related StoriesCreative Nonfiction WritingDaniel Coyle: On the Transformative Process of RewritingRobert Lee BrewerMystery/ThrillerLeodora Darlington: On Making the Stakes Clear in Every ChapterRobert Lee BrewerWriting TechniquesWriting in Multiple Age Groups and GenresAlechia DowWriting TechniquesFragmented Testimony as Narrative StructureSarah BruniRomanceLibby Page: Write From the HeartRobert Lee BrewerWrite Better FictionJasmin Iolani Hakes: Write What Scares YouRobert Lee BrewerRelated StoriesCreative Nonfiction WritingDaniel Coyle: On the Transformative Process of RewritingRobert Lee BrewerMystery/ThrillerLeodora Darlington: On Making the Stakes Clear in Every ChapterRobert Lee BrewerWriting TechniquesWriting in Multiple Age Groups and GenresAlechia DowWriting TechniquesFragmented Testimony as Narrative StructureSarah BruniRomanceLibby Page: Write From the HeartRobert Lee BrewerWrite Better FictionJasmin Iolani Hakes: Write What Scares YouRobert Lee Brewer

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