Meanings, Tenses, Collocations & Usage of “Raise”

Raise – the verb is used in situations where you raise a child, raise a thing, increase the cost of something, initiate a conversation, raise money for a cause. The verb is usually transitive in nature; i.e., it requires an object which significantly alters its sense.

Part of speech:

Verb (regular, transitive)

Phonetic transcription (IPA):

/reɪz/

CEFR level:

B1

Word frequency:

Proper Pronunciation of the Verb “Raise”

Audio (UK):

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Audio (US):

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The vowel here is the long diphthong /eɪ/, which sounds like that of “pay,” “say,” and “weight,” and therefore requires you to open up your mouth widely when pronouncing it rather than making it too short. The last /z/ is voiced, implying that you vibrate when pronouncing this sound, thereby clearly differentiating “raise” from “race” /reɪs/.

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All Tenses of “Raise”: Full Conjugation Table

“Raise” is a fully regular verb, making its conjugation wonderfully easy. There are no complications with the irregular forms in the past, nor with any spelling peculiarities. However, even though the verb conjugation itself poses little problem, there are certain mistakes that students tend to make with it.

Tense	Form	Example
Base / Infinitive	raise	We need to raise the budget by 15%.
Present simple (I/you/we/they)	raise	They raise awareness through social media campaigns.
Present simple (he/she/it)	raises	The charity raises over £2 million each year.
Past simple	raised	The company raised salaries across all departments.
Past continuous	was/were raising	She was raising three children while completing her degree.
Present perfect	has/have raised	The campaign has raised more than anyone expected.
Past perfect	had raised	By the time she retired, she had raised four children and one business.
Future (will)	will raise	The bank will raise interest rates again next quarter.
Gerund / -ing form	raising	Raising a child in a second language is a fascinating challenge.
Passive (past)	was/were raised	She was raised in a small coastal town in Portugal.

The Many Meanings of “Raise”

“To raise” is an example of a verb whose meaning depends heavily on its object. It changes radically based on what comes after it. Native English speakers do this unconsciously when speaking the language. You need to know all of them without effort. Take in each definition below and use it as your guide to understanding “raise”.

To Bring Up a Child

A key sense for family and social vocabulary. “Raise” and “bring up” are near-synonyms in this meaning; both are fully standard.

He was raised by his grandparents in rural Ukraine and moved to the UK at eighteen.

Raising a child in a city you don’t know yet is its own kind of adventure.

To Increase a Number, Level, or Amount

The most common professional use. If you work in business, finance, or management, this sense will come up in your English every single week.

  The board voted to raise the minimum wage for all warehouse staff.
  They raised the entry requirements after applications tripled in two years.

To Lift Something Physically

Direct and literal. Less frequent in adult professional English, but essential for everyday comprehension.

She raised her hand to ask a question during the Q&A session.

He raised his glass and the room fell silent.

To Introduce a Topic or Concern

Essential in workplace and academic English. “Raise an issue,” “raise a point,” “raise a concern” are fixed collocations used in meetings, reports, and formal conversations constantly.

  She raised the issue of data security at the team meeting and nobody had a good answer.
  He raised a valid point about the timeline, and the project manager had to agree.

To Collect Money for a Purpose

Common in charity, community, and business fundraising contexts.

  The team raised $8,000 for the hospice by cycling across the country in five days.
  The start-up raised its first round of investment in under three weeks.

Top Collocations: What “Raise” Pairs With

The term “raise” has an extensive list of fixed collocations which are found repeatedly throughout English both at work and school and in the normal course of everyday conversation. These phrases English speakers naturally use together, and by learning such pairs of words, you can instantly make your language sound much more natural.

Phrase	Meaning	Example
raise a question	cause people to ask or doubt something; to bring up an issue for discussion	The auditor’s findings raised serious questions about the accounting process.
raise awareness	make more people know about an issue or problem	The campaign was designed to raise awareness of ocean plastic pollution.
raise concerns	express worries or doubts about something	Several parents raised concerns about the school’s handling of the situation.
raise funds/money	collect money for a specific purpose or cause	She spent the weekend raising funds for the children’s ward.
raise standards	improve the expected level of quality or performance	New regulations were introduced specifically to raise standards across the industry.
raise an objection	formally say that you disagree with something or oppose it	His lawyer raised an objection before the second witness had finished speaking.
raise a family	take care of children and help them grow up	They chose the town deliberately because it seemed like a good place to raise a family.
raise hopes	make people feel more hopeful or optimistic	The early results raised hopes of a faster recovery than anticipated.
raise the bar	set a higher standard or expectation	Winning the award raised the bar for everything that the department produced afterwards.

“Raise”: Spanish, French, and German Translations

The meaning of “raise” can be expressed using several other words in the same language. The same applies to Spanish, French, and German where each sense of “raise” requires a different verb. Look at the table and keep this in mind.

Meaning of “Raise”	Spanish	French	German
To lift physically	levantar	lever	heben
To increase (prices, salary)	aumentar / subir	augmenter	erhöhen
To bring up a child	criar	élever	aufziehen / großziehen
To raise a topic/concern	plantear	soulever	ansprechen / aufwerfen
To raise money/funds	recaudar	collecter / lever des fonds	sammeln / aufbringen