Pray that + [what tense]

Question

Hi all!I have found out that patterns like "pray that she will find" are more frequent than "pray that she finds".Can sombody explain what's the difference?Thanks in advance,Anton

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

You pray now but if she finds anything as a result of it, she'll find it in the future.
CB

Ant_222 · Answer

Thank you, CB. So, in this situation the only correct tense is the Future Simple?

How to explain the use of the Present Simple in this book title: «The Ardennes Tapes: Pray That Somebody Listens!».

or this phrase: «Pray that John Mc Cain wins».

They both refer to future events but use the Present Simple for some reason...

Cool Breeze · Answer

Ant_222How to explain the use of the Present Simple in this book title: «The Ardennes Tapes: Pray That Somebody Listens!».

or this phrase: «Pray that John Mc Cain wins».

They both refer to future events but use the Present Simple for some reason...

I just observe, I don't dictate usage. You said in your first post that you have seen the present tense used as well. I believed you; I just offered a reason to use the future tense.
CB

CalifJim · Answer

My guess is that the present is more often used, even though the meaning is future. The present seems more natural and idiomatic to my ear.
CJ

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Here are two examples showing the difference between the present and future tenses
1) I pray that she is safe.
The above sentence means that at the present time, I don't know if she is safe or not, but I hope (pray) that she is. The tenses are all present.
2) I pray that she will be safe.
This means, for example, that she just left me to go home, and I hope that she will not have an accident on the way. This expresses a hope (in the present time) for some future condition or outcome.
It is also usual to use the simple present when we want to state a fact or ask a question without any time reference (The sun rises in the east. You play chess well. )
The sentence "I pray that someone listens." may be another example of an indeterminant time reference. It could be present (I don't know if someone is listening) or future (I hope that someone will be listening).

Ant_222 · Answer

Thanks to all of you!

Pray that + [what tense]

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