Meaning & use
do what you preach
Last updated
UK/ˌduː wɒt juː ˈpriːtʃ/
US/ˌduː wʌt juː ˈpriːtʃ/
Meaning
phraseidiom
to act in the way you tell other people to act
Grammar: Used as an imperative or as a general statement; it has no object.
Patterns
- do what you preach
- you should do what you preach
If you tell your kids to be honest, you should do what you preach.
She is always advising us to save money, so she does what she preaches.
Do what you preach, and people will trust you more.
Common combinations
- do what you preach
- Do what you preach, or no one will listen.
- not do what you preach
- He tells everyone to be kind but does not do what he preaches.
- practice what you preach
- The more common form is 'practice what you preach'.
Synonyms and how they differ
- practice what you preach
- The standard idiom, used more often and usually as a criticism of someone who does not follow their own advice.
- walk the talk
- Informal and slightly business-like; it means to act in line with what you say, without the moral tone.
Commonly confused: do what you preach or practice what you preach?
do what you preach vs practice what you preach
This is the usual fixed phrase; 'do what you preach' is a less common variation with the same idea.
Practice
Parents who tell children not to lie should ___.
Choose one answer.
'Do what they preach' is the fixed idiom meaning act as you advise. The other options are grammatical but do not form the idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “do what you preach”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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