VOA慢速英语2018--Raise of Rise?

 

Have you ever been confused by the verbs “raise” and “rise”? Both words mean “to move upward¹." They also sound similar. But we don’t use them in the same way.

Adriana from Uruguay says:

Question:

I would like to know the difference in meaning between “raise” and “rise” and when to use one or the other. I asked this question to a U.S. citizen and she could not tell me the answer. – Adriana, Uruguay

Answer:

Hello Adriana and thanks for writing to us!

That is a great question and something many English learners wonder about. The short answer is that “raise” is a transitive verb and “rise” is intransitive. I’ll tell you what that means in a moment.

But, as you saw, many native English speakers might not be able to describe that difference. I suspect the same is true for you in Spanish – the right words just come at the right time, perhaps without you knowing the technical reason.

To answer your question more fully², let me begin by giving you the dictionary meanings of each verb:

To raise means to lift or move something or someone upward. It also means to increase.

To rise means to move upward or to increase.

Notice that “raise” includes the words “something” and “someone.” That’s the big difference between the two. With “raise,” something is causing the upward movement of something else, whereas³ with “rise,” the cause is not stated.

Raise

“Raise” is a transitive verb, which means it takes a direct object. A direct object is a person or thing that receives the action of the verb. Here is an example:

Adriana raised her hand when she had a question.

Here, the subject (Adriana) is causing the object (her hand) to move upward. Here’s another example:

The restaurant raised dinner prices for Valentine’s Day.

The subject (the restaurant) is causing the object (dinner prices) to increase.

Rise

On the other hand, “rise” is intransitive. It is never followed by a direct object. Here’s an example:

Warm air rises.

Here's another example:

Swedish stocks⁵ rose after the election⁶ Monday.

Looking at the stocks example, we can see there is a cause for the rise of stocks, but we do not directly state it in the subject-verb-object way do with "raise."

Notice that the past tense of “rise” is “rose.” That’s because the verb is irregular: rise, rose, risen. But, “raise” is regular: raise, raised, raised.

Do you have a question for Ask a Teacher? Write to us in the Comments area. Be sure to list your country!

And that’s Ask a Teacher.

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

moment – n. a very short period of time

dictionary – n. a reference⁷ book that contains words listed in alphabetical⁸ order and gives the words' meanings, forms and pronunciations

stock⁴ – n. a share of the value of a company which can be bought, sold, or traded as an investment

1 upward   

adj.向上的，上升的；adv.向上，上升

参考例句：

• The birds flew upward.鸟儿向上飞去。
• Prices have an upward tendency.价格有上升的趋势。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 whereas   

conj.而，却，反之

参考例句：

• They want a house,whereas we would rather live in a flat.他们想要一座房子，而我们宁愿住在一套房间里。
• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。

4 stock   

n.存货，储备；树干；血统；股份；家畜；adj.存货的；平凡的，惯用的；股票的；畜牧的；vt.进货，采购；储存；供给；vi.出新芽；进货

参考例句：

• The shop takes stock every week on Friday mornings.这家商店每星期五早晨盘点存货。
• Experts have forecast an upturn in the stock market.专家已预测股票市场价格有上升趋势。

5 stocks   

n.（树木等的）干( stock的名词复数 )；公债；家系；家族

参考例句：

• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse. 经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They want to unload the stocks on the market. 他们想把股票在市场上抛售掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 election   

n.选举，选择权；当选

参考例句：

• There is no doubt but that he will win the election.毫无疑问，他将在竞选中获胜。
• The government will probably fall at the coming election.在即将到来的大选中，该政府很可能要垮台。

7 reference   

n.提到，说到，暗示，查看，查阅

参考例句：

• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。
• I like to have my reference books within my reach.我喜欢把参考书放到伸手可取的地方。

8 alphabetical   

adj.字母（表）的，依字母顺序的

参考例句：

• Please arrange these books in alphabetical order.请把这些书按字母顺序整理一下。
• There is no need to maintain a strict alphabetical sequence.不必保持严格的字顺。