Rise or raise? Learn the difference and when to use them.

Can’t decide whether to use rise or raise? It’s understandable that these words get mixed up, because they have similar spelling, pronunciation and meaning.

However, there is one important difference between rise and raise that determines which word is correct in any given context. Keep reading to learn the difference and also to see examples of how to use these words in different tenses.

We have included some phrasal verbs and idioms that use raise and rise, so you can be sure you’re selecting the correct word each time.

How and when to use rise or raise

Forming the verbs raise and rise

Before we get stuck into rise vs raise and the difference in meaning, let’s be clear about how these verbs are formed in different tenses:

You’ll see these different forms being used throughout the examples that follow.

What’s the difference between rise and raise?

Both verbs describe an upward motion or an increase of some sort. The key difference between rise and raise is that rise is intransitive whereas raise is transitive. You can see this mentioned in the table above.

This rule is similar to the difference between lay and lie.

Let’s look at what this means in practice.

Rise is intransitive

An intransitive verb has no direct object. This means that the person or object that is increasing or moving upward should be the subject of the sentence.

Rise has several meanings

• When a physical object rises, it moves upwards.
  “When I get into the bath, the water level rises.”
  “Everyone knows that hot air rises.”

• If a price or amount rises, it increases.
  “I can feel the temperature rising as summer approaches.”
  “Petrol prices have risen twice this year already!”

• In more formal English, rise can mean ‘stand up’ (from a seated position).
  “We all rose to greet the CEO.”

• Also in formal English, rise can mean ‘get up’ (from bed).
  “The whole family rises at 7am every day.”

These last two are mostly used in written English, particularly in stories with a traditional voice. One exception is if you describe someone as an ‘early riser’, which means they usually get up early. This phrase is more often used in everyday speech.

Raise is transitive

A transitive verb requires a direct object, meaning that someone or something performs the action to someone or something else.

If you raise something, you elevate it, erect it, move it higher or increase it:

“People living in areas prone to flooding should consider raising their homes.”
“It’s polite to raise your hand if you have a question to ask.”
“I think we have no choice but to raise our prices by 5%.”
“Every student raised their hand when the teacher offered a reward.”

Please note: There are many other meanings of rise and raise, but we have included the most common (and those which are most often confused).

Using rise vs raise in common phrases

Now that you have understood the basics of when to use rise or raise, let’s look at some common phrases that use these words.

Pay rise or pay raise?

Someone raises your salary, but should you refer to this as a pay rise or pay raise? In American English, ‘pay raise’ is more common. However, in British English, you’ll hear ‘pay rise’.

In both cases, an increase in pay may just be referred to as a ‘rise’ or a ‘raise’.

This is one of many differences between British vs American words that it’s helpful to be aware of.

Price raise or rise?

A company raises its prices (we use ‘raise’ because it is a transitive action). We can refer to this as a ‘price rise’ in British English or a ‘price raise’ in American English, although ‘price increase’ would be just as acceptable (and less confusing) in both cases.

Raise up or rise up?

We say ‘rise up’ but not ‘raise up’.

The phrasal verb ‘rise up’ has several meanings, but in most cases the meaning is similar to ‘rise’, just emphasizing the upward motion:

“It was astonishing to watch all the hot air balloons rising up at dawn.”
“After kneeling for so long, it was a relief to rise up to my feet again.”

The main exception is when it means ‘to stage a rebellion or revolt’:

“The workers rose up, united against the proposal to slash their benefits.”

More phrasal verbs and idioms using rise and raise

• To rise above something means to ignore and overcome, or to be unaffected by, some kind of adversity:
  “She chose to rise above all of his attempts to provoke her.”

• Give rise to means be the cause of:
  “Problems with product quality have given rise to customer complaints this month.”

• If you say something that raises eyebrows, it causes surprise or perhaps disapproval. If you raise your eyebrows then you are expressing these emotions yourself:
  “Pablo’s comment about our new president certainly raised eyebrows at dinner tonight.”

• Raise a glass is another way of saying ‘make a toast’:
  “Let’s all raise a glass to Susan, our colleague and our friend.”

• Raise the stakes is a phrase that comes from poker, but it can be generally used to mean that you increase your level of commitment, or increase the cost or risk involved in a process:
  “They’ve raised the stakes by investing $500,000 in a new IT system. Let’s hope it delivers the results they need.”

• Finally, raise the roof means create a lot of noise, usually through excitement:
  “The crowd absolutely raised the roof when the stars of the show appeared.”

We hope this gives you a better understanding of when to use rise or raise in your writing or speaking. If you have any questions or comments about this topic then you are welcome to leave a reply below.

Next, why not read about complement vs compliment or recur vs reoccur – two other word pairs that are easily confused because of their similar spelling.

Explore more commonly confused words