Meaning & use
preach what you teach
Last updated
Meanings
phraseidiom
To act according to the advice or lessons you give to others.
Grammar: Used as an imperative or as a statement about someone's behavior.
Patterns
- preach what you teach to someone
- you should preach what you teach
The coach tells his players to be disciplined, but he doesn't preach what he teaches.
If you want respect, you need to preach what you teach.
Parents should preach what they teach their children about honesty.
phraseidiom
To follow the principles or rules that one instructs others to follow.
Grammar: Often used in the negative to criticize hypocrisy.
Patterns
- not preach what you teach
- fail to preach what you teach
The manager never preaches what she teaches, so the staff ignore her rules.
It's easy to preach what you teach, but hard to actually do it.
He says we should recycle, but he doesn't preach what he teaches.
Common combinations
- preach what you teach
- The teacher reminded the students to preach what they teach.
- not preach what you teach
- The politician was accused of not preaching what he teaches.
- try to preach what you teach
- She tries to preach what she teaches about healthy eating.
Synonyms and how they differ
- practice what you preach
- This is the more common phrase and means the same thing: behave as you tell others to behave.
- walk the talk
- This informal phrase means to act in line with what you say; it is similar but often used in business contexts.
Commonly confused: preach what you teach or practice what you preach?
preach what you teach vs practice what you preach
This is the standard idiom; 'preach what you teach' is a less common variation with the same meaning.
Practice
What does 'preach what you teach' mean?
Choose one answer.
The phrase means you should live by the principles you tell others to follow, not just talk about them.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “preach what you teach”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.