teach what you preach

Meanings

1. 1phraseidiom

   to act in the way you tell other people to act, so that your advice and your behavior agree.

   Grammar: Used as a whole fixed phrase, often in the negative or in a question: you can't teach what you don't preach.

   Patterns

   • teach what you preach
   • not teach what you preach
   • expect someone to teach what they preach

   If you tell your students to be punctual, you should teach what you preach and arrive on time yourself.

   He keeps advising us to save money, but he never teaches what he preaches.

   Parents who teach what they preach raise children who trust their words.

2. 2phraseidiomdisapproving

   a criticism of someone whose own life does not follow the rules they urge on other people.

   Grammar: Often used as a sharp comment after describing a person's bad behavior: she says one thing and does another.

   Patterns

   • someone does not teach what they preach
   • tell someone to teach what they preach

   The coach was caught cheating, so people said he should teach what he preaches.

   It is easy to give advice; the hard part is to teach what you preach.

   She accused the manager of never teaching what he preached about honesty.

Common combinations

practise what you preach

My grandmother always said you should practise what you preach, and she did.

not teach what you preach

He warns everyone about junk food but does not teach what he preaches.

teach what you preach about something

Teachers should teach what they preach about respect in the classroom.

fail to teach what you preach

The politician failed to teach what he preached when his own taxes went unpaid.

expect someone to teach what they preach

We expect our leaders to teach what they preach, not just give speeches.

Synonyms and how they differ

practise what you preach

The far more common British form; it stresses doing the thing rather than merely telling others to do it.

walk the talk

An informal expression with the same idea, often used in business talk about leaders who act on their words.

lead by example

Focuses on showing good behavior so others copy it, rather than on whether your advice matches your actions.

Opposites

Commonly confused: teach what you preach or teach your grandmother to suck eggs?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “teach what you preach”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words