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Common Mistakes and Confusing Words in English

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raise vs rise

When used as a verb they both have the same general meaning of "to move upwards", the main difference is that rise is an intransitive verb (it does not take an object), while raise is a transitive verb (it requires an object):

As you can see from the examples below; nobody pushes up the sun, whereas Lynne moved her hand upwards.

rise (v) Something rises by itself

For example:-
The sun rises in the east.
The chairman always rises to the occasion.
I will rise tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. to walk the dog.

Rise is an irregular verb: rise / rose / risen

raise (v) Something else is needed to raise something.

For example:-
Lynne raised her hand.
They can't raise the Titanic.

Raise is a regular verb: raise / raised / raised

As a noun rise describes an upward movement.

For example:-

There was a steep rise in drug-related crimes.

As a noun raise describes an increase in salary.

For example: When people ask for a raise, they often go about it in an entirely wrong way. 

!Note - you can raise children, which means to look after them as they grow up.

!Note - sometimes people ask for a pay rise.

 

Confusing Words