Rise / Raise / Arise (Confusing Verbs) – English Grammar Exercises for B2
Workplace Advocacy – Advising a colleague to stop accepting unpaid overtime and to actively speak up for their rights with Human Resources (HR).
Choose the most appropriate word to complete each sentence. Pay attention to the grammatical context (transitive vs. intransitive) and the specific meaning of the verb in a professional environment.
1 You shouldn’t just sit there and accept unpaid overtime; you need to ______ your voice and demand fair treatment.
(a) rise
(b) raise
(c) arise
(d) raising
2 If you keep quiet and never complain, your salary will never ______ on its own.
(a) be rised
(b) raise
(c) arise
(d) rise
3 I know it is scary to confront management, but you must ______ the topic of overtime pay at tomorrow’s team meeting.
(a) raise
(b) arise
(c) rise
(d) to raise
4 Whenever the uncomfortable topic of unpaid work ______, our manager usually tries to change the subject quickly.
(a) raises
(b) arises
(c) are arise
(d) rises
5 I was so proud of Sarah when she finally ______ her hand during the HR briefing to complain about the excessive working hours.
(a) arose
(b) rised
(c) raised
(d) rose
6 We have to ______ awareness among the junior staff about our legal right to overtime compensation.
(a) arise
(b) raise
(c) rise
(d) raising
7 Don’t wait until a severe mental breakdown ______ from all this exhaustion; go speak to HR right now!
(a) is arise
(b) raises
(c) arises
(d) rises
8 I have noticed that your stress levels have ______ dramatically since they forced you to work on weekends.
(a) raised
(b) risen
(c) rose
(d) arisen
9 It is about time someone ______ the question of why we are constantly expected to work for free.
(a) arose
(b) rose
(c) has raise
(d) raised
10 If a similar unfair situation ______ in my department, I would immediately file a formal complaint.
(a) arose
(b) rose
(c) was arisen
(d) raised
11 The union representative has already ______ several valid points about the recent breach of our employment contracts.
(a) arisen
(b) raised
(c) rose
(d) risen
12 Why do you continuously let the management ______ their expectations without ever increasing your pay?
(a) raise
(b) to raise
(c) rise
(d) arise
13 Your frustration is completely justified; it has naturally ______ from months of feeling unappreciated and overworked.
(a) raised
(b) arose
(c) arisen
(d) risen
14 Unless you formally complain, the company’s profit margin will continue to ______ while you suffer in silence.
(a) arise
(b) rised
(c) raise
(d) rise
15 Several courageous employees have already ______ formal grievances regarding the mandatory holiday shifts.
(a) risen
(b) arisen
(c) raised
(d) rose
16 Should any retaliatory actions ______ after you speak to HR, please remember that the labor union will protect you.
(a) raise
(b) arise
(c) to arise
(d) rise
17 I refuse to stay quiet while the number of unpaid hours expected of us has ______ to such an illegal extent.
(a) raised
(b) rose
(c) arisen
(d) risen
18 It takes a lot of courage to ______ objections when the entire executive team is sitting right in front of you.
(a) arise
(b) raising
(c) rise
(d) raise
19 A strong feeling of resentment ______ among the staff when the new “no overtime pay” policy was announced.
(a) arose
(b) raised
(c) was arisen
(d) rose
20 By refusing to ______ the issue with your supervisor, you are indirectly accepting and enabling this toxic culture.
(a) raise
(b) raised
(c) rise
(d) arise
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (b) raise
- Why it is correct: “Raise your voice” is a transitive action where you are actively increasing the volume/presence of something (“your voice” is the direct object). It means to speak up.
- Distractor Analysis: (a) “rise” is a common mistake (intransitive, takes no object). (c) “arise” is a meaning trap. (d) “raising” is a structural error (needs the base verb after ‘need to’).
2 (d) rise
- Why it is correct: A salary naturally increases numerically (intransitive). Nobody is actively bringing it up as an object in this specific sentence structure.
- Distractor Analysis: (b) “raise” is a common mistake. (c) “arise” is a meaning trap (salaries don’t ‘occur’, they increase). (a) “be rised” is a structural error (wrong conjugation).
3 (a) raise
- Why it is correct: “Raise a topic” is a standard transitive collocation. You actively bring the topic (the object) to the table.
- Distractor Analysis: (c) “rise” is a common mistake. (b) “arise” is a meaning trap (topics can “arise” naturally, but here “you” must actively do it). (d) “to raise” is a structural error (must use a bare infinitive after the modal ‘must’).
4 (b) arises
- Why it is correct: The topic is the subject, and it comes up/happens on its own (intransitive, abstract). We use “arises”.
- Distractor Analysis: (a) “raises” is a common mistake (missing an object to act upon). (d) “rises” is a meaning trap (topics don’t move upwards physically). (c) “are arise” is a structural error.
5 (c) raised
- Why it is correct: “Raise a hand” requires a transitive verb acting on the object (“her hand”).
- Distractor Analysis: (d) “rose” is a common mistake (intransitive). (a) “arose” is a meaning trap. (b) “rised” is a structural error.
6 (b) raise
- Why it is correct: “Raise awareness” is a fixed transitive collocation meaning to actively increase people’s knowledge about something.
- Distractor Analysis: (c) “rise” is a common mistake. (a) “arise” is a meaning trap. (d) “raising” is a structural error.
7 (c) arises
- Why it is correct: A mental breakdown is an abstract event/problem that happens or results from (“arises from”) exhaustion.
- Distractor Analysis: (b) “raises” is a common mistake. (d) “rises” is a meaning trap. (a) “is arise” is a structural error.
8 (b) risen
- Why it is correct: Stress levels (numbers/levels) increase on their own. We use the intransitive “rise” in the V3 form (“risen”) after the auxiliary “have”.
- Distractor Analysis: (a) “raised” is a common mistake. (d) “arisen” is a meaning trap. (c) “rose” is a structural error (using V2 instead of V3).
9 (d) raised
- Why it is correct: “To raise a question” requires a transitive verb. “It’s about time someone did something” requires the past tense (“raised”).
- Distractor Analysis: (b) “rose” is a common mistake. (a) “arose” is a meaning trap. (c) “has raise” is a structural error.
10 (a) arose
- Why it is correct: An unfair situation is an abstract event that happens. We use the past tense of “arise” (arose) for a Type 2 Conditional ‘if’ clause.
- Distractor Analysis: (d) “raised” is a common mistake. (b) “rose” is a meaning trap. (c) “was arisen” is a structural error (intransitive verbs cannot be passive).
11 (b) raised
- Why it is correct: The union representative actively brought up points (“raised points” – direct object).
- Distractor Analysis: (d) “risen” is a common mistake. (a) “arisen” is a meaning trap. (c) “rose” is a structural error.
12 (a) raise
- Why it is correct: Increasing expectations takes a direct object (“their expectations”), requiring the transitive verb “raise”.
- Distractor Analysis: (c) “rise” is a common mistake. (d) “arise” is a meaning trap. (b) “to raise” is a structural error (the causative verb ‘let’ requires a bare infinitive).
13 (c) arisen
- Why it is correct: Frustration is an abstract feeling that results from (“arisen from”) being unappreciated. It needs the V3 form after “has”.
- Distractor Analysis: (a) “raised” is a common mistake (frustration isn’t actively lifted by a direct agent here). (d) “risen” is a meaning trap. (b) “arose” is a structural error.
14 (d) rise
- Why it is correct: The profit margin is a numerical indicator that increases on its own (intransitive).
- Distractor Analysis: (c) “raise” is a common mistake. (a) “arise” is a meaning trap. (b) “rised” is a structural error.
15 (c) raised
- Why it is correct: To submit or bring forward a complaint is to “raise a grievance” (transitive). The employees actively performed this action.
- Distractor Analysis: (a) “risen” is a common mistake. (b) “arisen” is a meaning trap. (d) “rose” is a structural error.
16 (b) arise
- Why it is correct: Retaliatory actions are situations that happen/occur. This is an inverted first conditional (Should + S + V-inf), requiring “arise”.
- Distractor Analysis: (a) “raise” is a common mistake. (d) “rise” is a meaning trap. (c) “to arise” is a structural error.
17 (d) risen
- Why it is correct: “The number of hours” increases numerically on its own. We use the intransitive V3 form “risen” after “has”.
- Distractor Analysis: (a) “raised” is a common mistake. (c) “arisen” is a meaning trap. (b) “rose” is a structural error.
18 (d) raise
- Why it is correct: “Raise objections” is an active, transitive action. You bring objections (the object) forward.
- Distractor Analysis: (c) “rise” is a common mistake. (a) “arise” is a meaning trap. (b) “raising” is a structural error.
19 (a) arose
- Why it is correct: A feeling of resentment is an abstract emotion that comes into existence or happens. We use the past tense “arose”.
- Distractor Analysis: (b) “raised” is a common mistake (no active agent is bringing the feeling up; it happened spontaneously). (d) “rose” is a meaning trap. (c) “was arisen” is a structural error.
20 (a) raise
- Why it is correct: To bring a topic to someone’s attention is to “raise the issue” (transitive, requiring an object).
- Distractor Analysis: (c) “rise” is a common mistake. (d) “arise” is a meaning trap. (b) “raised” is a structural error (needs the base verb after ‘to’).
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
To be an effective advocate in the workplace, you must know how to properly use these verbs. Remember the Object Rule and the Meaning Rule:
1 RAISE (Raise – Raised – Raised): TAKING ACTION / SPEAKING UP
- Rule: TRANSITIVE (Always takes a direct object).
- Meaning: You actively cause something to increase, or you actively introduce a topic for discussion.
- Workplace Advocacy Collocations: Raise your voice, Raise awareness, Raise an issue, Raise a question, Raise objections, Raise a grievance.
- Example: You must raise your voice against unpaid overtime.
2 ARISE (Arise – Arose – Arisen): PROBLEMS HAPPENING
- Rule: INTRANSITIVE (Never takes an object).
- Meaning: Used for abstract situations, problems, or feelings that naturally occur, emerge, or result from something (arise from).
- Workplace Advocacy Collocations: Conflicts arise, Resentment arises, Issues arise.
- Example: A problem arose when HR ignored the complaints.
3 RISE (Rise – Rose – Risen): NUMBERS GOING UP
- Rule: INTRANSITIVE (Never takes an object).
- Meaning: Used when numbers, levels, amounts, or physical objects go up naturally on their own.
- Workplace Advocacy Collocations: Stress levels rise, Salaries rise, Profit margins rise.
- Example: The company’s profits have risen, but our wages have not.