Rise means to go up by itself; raise means to lift or increase something. Use rise for things that go up or grow on their own: prices, temperature, the sun. Raise is always followed by the thing being lifted: raise prices, raise your hand, raise money.
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noun + rise (rose, risen); raise (raised) + noun; rise by/to + number; raise + prices/your hand/a question
- House prices in our area rose by ten per cent last year.
- If you have a question during the lecture, just raise your hand.
- We got up at five to watch the sun rise over the mountains.
What changed
First versionPrices raised again after the holidays.
RevisionPrices rose again after the holidays.
English has two separate verbs here: one for something that goes up on its own, and one for someone making it go up. In this sentence the prices went up by themselves, and nobody is named as raising them. So the verb is rose, the past tense of rise. Raised would need an object after it, answering the question “raised what?”.
Both words are also nouns. A rise in prices means that prices have gone up. An increase in pay is a pay rise in British English and a raise in American English: I finally asked my manager for a pay rise.
Your turn
The company ___ salaries for all employees in January.
Show the answer
raised — The gap is followed by salaries, the thing the company increased. When there is something being lifted, you need raised. Rose cannot be used like this: salaries can rise on their own, but a company raises them.
Describe how the price of something you buy regularly has changed. Name the product or service and say roughly how much it has gone up.
The price of my monthly train pass rose by about fifteen per cent this year.
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