verb / noun · neutral
increase
/ɪnˈkriːs/in·CREASE
task1speaking
to become larger in number or amount; an amount that becomes larger
Examples
“Car ownership increased steadily between 2005 and 2010.”
“There was a sharp increase in exports last year.”
“Prices increased by about 10 percent.”
Band 8 sentence
“After a gradual increase in the early years, passenger numbers surged sharply between 2014 and 2017 before leveling off.”
Collocations
- increase by (10%)
- a steady increase
- increase sharply / increase dramatically
Word family
increase verbincrease nounincreased adjective / past participleincreasing adjective / gerund
Common mistakes
The sales increase 5% last year.→The sales increased by 5% last year.
There was increase in demand.→There was an increase in demand.
Say it for a higher band
5go up→6rise→7+increase
Synonyms
rise
go up
Easily confused
rise
“The number of cyclists rose steadily between 2010 and 2015.”
Related words
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In Peaks & troughs
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