Pray and Prey
sound the same but are not related in origin or meaning.
Pray originally meant “ask or beg (for something)” in a non-religious sense, and it can still be used this way—in limited ways—with unique grammar:
(a) I pray you not to arrive late.
(b) Pray you do not arrive late.
These do not mean “I pray to God that you don’t arrive late”; rather, they mean, “Please don’t arrive late, I beg you.” Notice that the grammar is different from “I pray (that) you do not arrive late,” which means that I hope that you do not arrive late. In example (a) the “do” is missing, just like in “I beg you not to arrive late” or “I ask you not to arrive late.” In example (b) the “I” is missing, and pray is being used somewhat like please. And the phrase pray tell can be used to mean “please tell me”:
What did you do today, pray tell?
These uses of pray —to mean “please, I ask you” —are very archaic (old-fashioned) and not often heard outside of film, literature, or in a joking manner. And pray can only be used in those ways when the speaker is the subject—the one making the request.
Otherwise, pray means “ask God for . . .” or “hope desperately for . . .”:
She prayed he would not arrive late.
She prayed for rain.
He prayed to God that he would win the race.
To pray for someone means “to pray for someone’s well being, physical or spiritual”:
We will pray for you and your family.
And pray with no object, or the noun prayer, can refer to meditation:
The holy man spent all of his time in silent prayer, one with God.
Pray can also describe the recitation of memorized religious scriptures:
The children prayed several times per day, using prayer books.
Finally, pray also occurs in the name of an insect, called a praying mantis, which looks like it is praying:
Which brings us to prey, which, as a verb, with on, means first, “to hunt, catch, kill, and eat”:
The praying mantis preys on other insects.
As a noun, prey refers to the animal which is preyed on:
Cats are famous for playing with their prey.
Prey, as a noun or verb, can be used metaphorically, meaning “to victimize” (verb) or “victim” (noun):
If you trust people too much, they may prey on you.
Thieves often prey on tourists because they are easy prey.
To remember the difference between prey and pray, you might think of the word predator, which means “one who preys on others.”