Meaning & use
pay my respects
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiomformal
To go to a place or event to show that you honor and remember someone, especially after a death.
Grammar: The phrase is fixed; you can change the possessive adjective (my, your, his, etc.) but not the verb or the plural noun.
Patterns
- pay one's respects to someone
- pay one's respects at a place
Hundreds of people came to pay their respects to the late mayor.
We went to the funeral home to pay our respects.
After the memorial service, she paid her respects to the family.
Common combinations
- pay one's respects to someone
- The students paid their respects to the retiring professor.
- pay one's respects at a funeral
- He flew home to pay his respects at his uncle's funeral.
- come to pay one's respects
- Many neighbors came to pay their respects.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pay homage
- More formal and often used for public tributes; 'pay my respects' is more personal and common at funerals.
- show respect
- A general phrase that does not specifically suggest visiting a place or attending a funeral.
Commonly confused: pay my respects or pay respect?
pay my respects vs pay respect
Without the plural 's', it means to show general respect, not to make a formal visit.
Practice
After hearing about her colleague's father's death, she went to the funeral home to ______.
Choose one answer.
The fixed phrase is 'pay one's respects' with a plural 'respects'. 'Pay her respect' is not the idiom, and the other options have wrong word order or form.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pay my respects”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.