How to pronounce prey in American English
PRAY
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Americans pronounce prey as PRAY (/preɪ/).
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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
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.
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