The aim of this study is to reveal the metaphorical perceptions of mathematics teacher candidates about the concepts of "model", "modelling", “mathematical model" and "mathematical modeling". The research was carried out at Kocaeli University in the spring semester of the 2021-2022 academic year and 78 volunteer teacher candidates participated. Phenomenology among qualitative research methods was used in the research. It is like “Model / Modeling / Mathematical model / Mathematical modeling ...; because ...” sentences were applied, and after producing a metaphor for the concepts, they were asked to state the reason for it. 59 metaphors belonging to the concept of "model", 63 metaphors of the concept of "modelling", 70 of the concepts of "mathematical model" and 69 different metaphors of the concept of "mathematical model" were created. In addition, metaphors created separately for each concept were categorized according to their characteristics. With 32 people for the concept of "model", 21 people for the concept of "modeling", 34 people for the concept of "mathematical model", and 14 people for the concept of "mathematical modeling", the most used category was "goods". All the metaphors created about the concepts have positive characteristics, so the perceptions of the pre-service teachers about modeling in general are positive. With this, it has been determined that the reasons for some metaphors produced do not fully reflect the context, a direct definition is given, and the knowledge and awareness of the pre-service teachers about modeling are lacking. It is recommended to examine the similarities and differences between the views of prospective teachers and teachers studying in different departments on modeling and mathematical modeling.