How to Use Rose vs. Risen (Irregular Verb Forms)

What's the past tense of "rise"?

The simple past tense of rise is rose, and the past participle is risen. Use rose for simple past and risen for past participle forms.

Definition of rise

The Oxford English Dictionary defines rise as "to assume an upright position especially from lying, kneeling, or sitting; to get up from sleep or from one's bed." It's used in both literal and figurative senses, from physical movements to increases in level or status.

• The past tense of rise is rose.

• The past participle of rise is risen.

Verb forms of 'rise'

Is "rise" a regular or irregular verb?

Note: Regular verbs end in -ed in the past tense. Any other verb ending is considered irregular.

While an irregular verb, 'rise' shows a highly common verb-conjugation pattern. Similar to other verbs like write/wrote/written, drive/drove/driven, and ride/rode/ridden, rise uses different forms for past tense and past participle, following the Germanic ablaut pattern.

When to use "rose" vs. "risen"

The mountain peaks rose to the west.

Air pollution has risen above an acceptable level.

The participle form of a verb (shown in the second sentence) uses the auxiliary verb has in the present perfect tense. When the past participle verb form is paired with the auxiliary has, this creates the present perfect tense. We write in the present perfect tense when actions or events from the past relate to the present, as evidenced with the example sentence 'air pollution has risen above an unacceptable level'.

The verb rise uses different forms for simple past tense and past participle. When used as a participle (shown in the second sentence), it requires an auxiliary verb like have, has, or had. The simple past doesn't use a helper verb since it's a complete tense, so rose can stand alone in sentences, whereas participles require an auxiliary verb.

Similar irregular verbs

The verb rise follows the Germanic ablaut pattern, which refers to the systematic vowel change in verb forms. Many irregular verbs in English show this pattern with different vowels in their base, past, and past participle forms.

Sentence examples: rise, rose, risen

Synonyms & nearby words

Origin of the verb rise

Middle English risen, from Old English risan "to rise from sleep, get out of bed; stand up, rise to one's feet; get up from table; rise together; be fit, be proper"

FAQs

Sources

1. Oxford English Dictionary. "rise, v." OED Online. Oxford University Press. Date of access 15 Jan. 2025.
2. Cambridge Dictionary. "rise." Cambridge University Press. Date of access 15 Jan. 2025.