Prophecy 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.
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.
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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 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, 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.
