Rise vs. Raise: What's the Difference?
Quick Answer
Rise means move upward or increase without a direct object: prices rise. Raise means lift or increase something and takes a direct object: a shop raises its prices. The forms are rise–rose–risen and raise–raised–raised.
Difference at a Glance
| Feature | Rise | Raise |
|---|---|---|
| Core meaning | Go up or increase | Cause something to go up or increase |
| Direct object | No: the temperature rose | Yes: the heater raised the temperature |
| Past simple | rose | raised |
| Past participle | risen | raised |
| Passive construction | Not used for this intransitive meaning | The flag was raised |
Definitions
Rise
An irregular verb describing upward movement or an increase in the subject itself.
subject + rise; has/have risen
The balloon rose above the trees.
Attendance has risen since January.
Raise
A regular verb describing an action that lifts, increases, or brings something forward.
subject + raise + object
Please raise the screen a little.
The speaker raised an interesting question.
Grammar Rule
Key Rule: Identify what is moving or increasing. If it is the subject, use rise: the water rose. If the subject acts on something else, use raise: the flood raised the water level. In a passive clause, that object becomes the subject: the level was raised.
An increase does not have to happen naturally to use rise. Prices can rise because a company changes them. Rise describes the change; raise explicitly names an action that causes it.
One event, two sentence patterns
Compare “The theatre raised ticket prices” with “Ticket prices rose.” The first focuses on the theatre and its decision. The second focuses on the change in prices. Neither sentence tells you, by itself, whether the change was reasonable.
Use by for the amount of a change and to for the final level: attendance rose by twenty people, but attendance rose to two hundred. The same distinction works with raise: they raised the limit by ten, or raised it to fifty.
Common Mistakes
Incorrect: The water has rose overnight.
Correct: The water has risen overnight.
After has or have, use the past participle risen.
Incorrect: She rose her hand to ask a question.
Correct: She raised her hand to ask a question.
Her hand is the direct object of the action.
Incorrect: The temperature was risen by the heater.
Correct: The temperature was raised by the heater.
Use raised in this passive construction.
More Correct Examples
Mini Quiz
1. Choose the past-tense verb: The bakery _____ its prices yesterday.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: raised
Its prices is a direct object; use raised.
2. Choose the past-tense verb: Prices _____ yesterday.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: rose
Prices is the thing that increased, and there is no direct object.
3. Complete the sentence: The river has _____ by ten centimetres.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: risen
Has requires the past participle risen.
4. Correct the sentence: The flag was rose at noon.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: The flag was raised at noon.
The passive uses the past participle of raise.
5. The price changes from $30 to $35. Complete: It rose _____ $5.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: by
By introduces the amount of change; to would introduce the new price of $35.
Common Learner Questions
Is risen or raised the past tense of rise?
Neither is its simple past. Rise has the simple past rose and the past participle risen. Raised is both the simple past and past participle of raise.
Can I say prices are raised?
Yes. That is the passive of someone raises prices. Prices are rising describes the increase without using a passive construction.
Is it raise a question or rise a question?
Raise a question is correct. In this expression, raise means bring something up for consideration and question is its object.
What is the difference between rise by and rise to?
Rise by gives the size of the increase. Rise to gives the final level: a total can rise by five to reach twenty.
Usage References
Usage checked on . Examples and practice questions are original TypoGrammar material.