How to pronounce prey in American English

IPA /preɪ/ Syllables 1 · pray Stress 1st syllable

PRAY

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Americans pronounce prey as PRAY (/preɪ/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The ecosystem depends on a balance of predators and prey" or "The eagle soared high above the mountains looking for prey" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "prey".

1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

p/p/

Press your lips together to stop the air, then release. No vocal cord vibration.

r/r/

Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.

ay/eɪ/

Start with your jaw slightly open and the front of your tongue forward and slightly up. Glide upward, your jaw closes a little more and your tongue arches higher toward the roof of the mouth.

In real conversation

Hear "prey" in the wild.

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"The eagle soared high above the mountains looking for prey."

dhee EE·guhl SORD HAHY uh·BUHV dhuh MOWN·tuhnz LUU·kuhng fer PRAY

"The ecosystem depends on a balance of predators and prey."

dhee EE·koh·sihs·tuhm duh·PEHNDZ ahn uh BA·luhns uhv PREH·duh·terz and PRAY

"The ecosystem relies on a delicate balance between predators and prey."

dhee EE·koh·sihs·tuhm ruh·LAHYZ ahn uh DEH·luh·kuht BA·luhns buh·TWEEN PREH·duh·terz and PRAY

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "prey" different from British English?

American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "PRAY" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.