There are many words in the English language that might leave one confused, because of their similar spellings, or pronunciations. For example, loose and lose, except and accept, further and farther, principle and principal, etc.
Many words may sound or look alike but have distinct meanings, such as pore and pour. Pore is a minute opening in a surface, especially in the skin through which gases, liquid, or microscopic particles may pass, whereas, on the other hand, pour means to flow rapidly in a steady stream. Similarly, there are many cases just like the above.
Rise vs Raise
The main difference between Rise and Raise lies in their meanings, rise means to move from a lower position to a comparatively higher position, on the other hand, raise means to move to a higher position.
Comparison Table Between Rise and Raise (in Tabular Form)
| Parameter of Comparison | Rise | Raise |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Rise is used to denote the general action of moving upward, without any direct object. | Whereas, Raise is used when someone or something is moved to a higher position by a direct object. |
| Transitive/ Intransitive Verb | Rise is an intransitive verb. | Raise is a transitive verb. |
| Tenses | The word “Rise” has three forms i.e. rise, rose, and risen. | In the case of Raise, it also has three forms i.e. raise, raised, and raised. |
| Irregular/ regular verb | Rise is an irregular verb i.e. it is a verb in which the past tense is not formed by adding “ed” at the end of the word such as in the case of sing, feel, go. | Whereas, on the other hand, raise is a regular verb, which means it follows one of the typical patterns existing. |
| Examples | An example of Rise is: “When the Sun rises, it appears in the sky.” | An example of Raise is: “The teacher asked the students to raise their hands if they know the answer.” |
When to Use Rise?
The word rise has several definitions, many of them denoting the meaning as upward movement, or ascending of a matter or person, however, it can mean anything from being a rebel, get up, to increase, or even return from death. It can be used as a countable noun, singular noun, as well as phrasal verbs. Rise is an irregular verb.
Irregular verbs are also known as strong verbs, these are the verbs which do not follow the general rule of the past tense or past participle form i.e. to add “ed” at the end of the word, for example, put remains put in the past as well as the future tense.
The following are the cases in which the word rise can be used:
- If something, particularly an object rises, or moves upwards: For example, “He watched the smoke rise from the chimney.”
- If a person gets out of bed: For example, “Robert had risen early and gone to the office for work.”
- If an object appears to be of a large tall shape: For example, “The building rose before him, tall and stately.”
- If the level of something (eg: water) rises: For example, “The water continues to rise as 1,000 people were evacuated from the region.”
- As a countable noun: For example, “The pub itself was on a rise commanding views across the countryside.”
- If the amount increases: For example, “The tourist taxes of the country rose by 10.7% in June, last year.”
When to Use Raise?
Raise is a regular verb, a verb whose conjugation follows the typical pattern, or one of a typical pattern, it has three forms i.e. raise, raised, and raised. It refers to the increase in position. In other words, it means to lift something to a higher position. Moreover, it must have an object, otherwise, the application of the word raise would not be possible. In other words, something raises something else. For example, “Our favorite Italian restaurant has raised its pricings again.”
The following are the scenarios in which the word rise can be used:
- When you have to raise something to a higher position: For example, “He raised his hand to wave at Sharma.”
- When you have to set upright: For example, When the projection screen toppled, he went to raise it again.”
- To increase a bet: For example, “My cards weren’t good enough to let me raise.”
- To increase the amount of salary, or wages: For example, “He got a raise of five-dollar to his existing salary,”
Main Differences Between Rise and Raise
- Rise refers to a movement performed by someone or something without the help of any external force, whereas, on the other hand, Raise refers to the action performed on the direct object with external force.
- Rise cannot take a direct object, whereas, in the case of Raise, it performs its actions on the direct object and cannot be executed without it.
- Rise may or may not be used regarding monetary matters, however, the word raise is used to denote the increase in amount. For example, John is expecting a raise at his new job.
- Rise is an irregular verb, on the other hand, raise is a regular verb.
- Raise used just after the object, for example, “to raise funds”, whereas, on the other hand, “rise” does not require an object, for example, “the sun rises”, or “high rise”.
Conclusion
People often get confused between the words, rise and raise because of their slight difference in spellings, although both the words are verbs referring to the upward movement, or increase, however, they differ in their applications. Where the former does not need an object to perform its action upon, on the contrary, the latter always needs an object.
Several words might confuse the reader, speaker, or writer, anyone for that matter so it is very important to learn and understand different meanings, as well as applications of these words to avoid any grammatical mistakes or errors.
References
- https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/rise
- https://www.thefreedictionary.com/raise