“Rise” and “raise” are two words that are commonly confused. We’ll go over what these words mean, their spellings, and how to use them correctly.
Quick Summary on “Rise” and “Raise”The main difference between the verbs rise and raise is that somebody/something can rise on its own, whereas an outside force is needed to raise somebody/something. In other words, rise is an intransitive verb whereas raise is a transitive verb.
Rise means “to come or go upwards,” “to ascend to a higher level,” or “to increase in the amount or level or something.”
He was rising to the top of the charts at a remarkable pace.
Raise means “to lift or move something to a higher level” or “to increase,” depending on the context.
We need to raisethe prices of our menu items because of inflation.
Use between when you want to refer to two or more entities that are separate and distinct. Use among when referring to things that aren’t distinct or individual, but instead collective.
Between vs. AmongThe students chose between Howard, Spelman, and Morehouse. The students chose among the top HBCUs.
Between and among are prepositions. There’s a widely used grammar rule that guides writers to use between when referring to two people or things (a conversation between Jack and Sally), and among when there are more than two (a conversation among a group of friends).
Although this guideline can sometimes be helpful, it’s not always so clear-cut. We’ll explain why below.
Published on
June 16, 2025
by
Marvin Erdner
Revised on
July 29, 2025
Nobody needs to know the difference between the words peak, pique, or peek until it’s time to spell or read them. That’s usually how most homophones work, and it’s never a problem until it is. If you’re reading this blog, this must be one of those times, and I’m here to help you figure it out.
You’ve probably come across tweets on Twitter with a list of homophones meant to test your language skills or intelligence several times. It’s a pretty harmless activity that usually leads to people sharing and bonding over their frustration about the English language. In the instance of pique, peak, and peek, most people interchange the words peak and peek for all three, but what do they mean, and how should they be used?
Correct Spellings
Peek: verb / noun, meaning “take a brief look” or a “glance”
Peak: noun / verb, meaning “climax” or “reaching the top”
When it comes to a while vs. awhile, most hardcore grammar enthusiasts would advise using the noun phrase a while after prepositions, and the adverb awhile in all other contexts.
Let’s dance for a while.Won’t you stay awhile?
You can’t go wrong with following this guideline.
But if you’re one of those that likes to challenge the status quo, you wouldn’t be entirely wrong to say that a while can also modify a verb. Confused? We don’t blame you. We’ll explain below.
“I hope this email finds you well” is an email cliché you should avoid using. Instead, you can use any of the five alternatives listed below.
Quick Summary on “I Hope This Email Finds You Well” AlternativesI hope this email finds you well is a phrase that is used at the beginning of formal emails. The problem with it is that it is unoriginal, overused, and inauthentic. Formal alternatives you could use instead are:
I know you’re busy, so I’ll be brief.
I hope you’re having a productive week.
It’s a pleasure connecting with you again.
I hope you’re doing well [+ add personal touch].
Another option is to jump straight to the point of your email.
Each and every must be used with countable nouns. Each is generally used to focus on the individual in a group of two or more, whereas every tends to connote an emphasis on an entire group of three or more.
Imply means “to suggest something indirectly or without explicitly saying it,” whereas infer means “to come to a conclusion based on the available information.”
He implied that I was not qualified to lead the project.
Many experts have inferred the housing market is bound to crash soon.
