Meaning & use
increase
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Meanings
verbintransitive
To become larger or more in amount, number, or degree.
Grammar: No object: prices increased. Use by for the amount and to for the end result.
Patterns
- increase by something
- increase to something
- increase in something
Sales increased by ten percent last year.
The temperature will increase to thirty degrees by noon.
The noise increased as we got closer.
verbtransitive
To make something larger or greater.
Grammar: Takes an object: increase the speed.
Patterns
- increase something
- increase something by something
The company increased the price of its tickets.
She increased her daily walk to forty minutes.
More exercise can increase your energy.
Word forms
| third person singular | increases |
|---|---|
| past tense | increased |
| past participle | increased |
| -ing form | increasing |
Common combinations
- increase sharply
- Prices increased sharply last month.
- increase steadily
- The population has increased steadily.
- increase by
- Costs increased by five percent.
- increase the risk
- Smoking can increase the risk of illness.
- increase awareness
- The campaign aims to increase awareness.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rise
- Rise is intransitive and used for levels, such as prices or temperature, so it takes no object.
- grow
- Grow suggests gradual natural development, often of size.
- raise
- Raise is transitive and means to lift something or set it higher.
Opposites
Word family
- increase noun
- a rise in amount
- increasing adjective
- becoming greater
- increasingly adverb
- more and more
Commonly confused: increase or increment?
increase vs increment
An increment is a small step up in a series, not the whole rise.
Practice
The rent will increase ___ $50 next month, from $800 to $850.
Choose one answer.
Increase by gives the size of the change ($50). Increase to would give the final amount ($850).
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “increase”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.