Meaning & use
prediction
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Meanings
nouncountable
A statement about what someone believes will happen in the future, based on evidence or judgment.
Grammar: Countable: you can make a prediction, or several predictions.
Patterns
- make a prediction
- a prediction about something
- a prediction that ...
The scientist made a prediction about the earthquake.
Her prediction that the team would win came true.
I don't want to make any predictions about the election.
noununcountable
The act of saying what you think will happen.
Grammar: Uncountable: used without 'a' or 'an', e.g. 'Prediction is difficult.'
Patterns
- prediction of something
Prediction of natural disasters is an important field.
The prediction of stock prices is notoriously hard.
Word forms
| plural | predictions |
|---|
Common combinations
- make a prediction
- It's risky to make a prediction about the weather.
- accurate prediction
- The model gave an accurate prediction of the outcome.
- bold prediction
- He made a bold prediction that the company would double its profits.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- predict verb
- To say what you think will happen.
- predictable adjective
- Able to be predicted; expected.
- predictive adjective
- Relating to prediction.
Commonly confused: prediction or predicting?
prediction vs predicting
Predicting is the -ing form of the verb, used in progressive tenses or as a gerund, while prediction is the noun.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'prediction' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The verb 'make' is used with 'prediction' to mean 'state a prediction.' 'Do a prediction' is not natural, and 'give a prediction' is less common but possible; however, 'make' is the standard choice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “prediction”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.