TOEIC Link Part 5: raise vs rise, lay vs lie
Raise/rise and lay/lie are two of the most reliably tested verb pairs in Part 5, and they share one structure. In each pair, one verb is transitive — it acts on a direct object — and the other is intransitive — it describes something happening on its own with no object. The meanings overlap enough to feel interchangeable, but the grammar does not, and Part 5 decides the answer by a single test: is there a direct object after the blank? Learn to look for the object first and these stop being memory items and become structural ones.
The core split: object or no object
The whole distinction rests on transitivity.
- Transitive (needs an object): raise and lay. Someone raises something; someone lays something down. There must be a noun receiving the action. She raised her hand. He laid the book on the table.
- Intransitive (no object): rise and lie. Something rises by itself; someone lies down. No noun follows the verb as its object. The sun rises in the east. He lies on the sofa.
The fastest test on any item is to read across the blank: if a noun directly follows and receives the action, you need the transitive verb (raise, lay); if nothing receives the action, you need the intransitive one (rise, lie). Prices ____ sharply last quarter has no object after the blank, so the answer is rose, not raised. The company ____ its prices has an object (its prices), so the answer is raised. This object-spotting habit is the same one that powers other Part 5 verb items — see our guide to verb + object + to-infinitive patterns for how an object's presence drives the whole structure.
Raise versus rise
These two are the easier pair because their forms are regular enough not to ambush you, but the transitivity rule still decides every item.
- raise (transitive, raise–raised–raised): to lift, increase, or bring up something. Always followed by an object. The board voted to raise salaries. They raised concerns about the timeline.
- rise (intransitive, rise–rose–risen): to go up, increase, or get up on its own. Never takes an object. Costs have risen every year. She rose from her chair.
Part 5 sets the trap by giving you a subject that could plausibly "go up" and asking whether it goes up by itself or is lifted by someone. Temperatures ____ overnight → no object → rose. The thermostat ____ the temperature → object (the temperature) → raised. Don't reason about meaning; count the nouns after the blank.
Lay versus lie
This is the harder pair, and not only because of transitivity — the irregular forms overlap in a way that is designed to trip you.
- lay (transitive, lay–laid–laid): to put or place something down. Needs an object. Please lay the documents on my desk. He laid the foundation last year.
- lie (intransitive, lie–lay–lain): to recline or be situated, on its own. No object. The town lies near the coast. She wants to lie down.
The form that traps everyone
Notice that the past tense of lie is lay — spelled and pronounced identically to the base form of the transitive verb. So lay can be either the present of "put something down" or the past of "recline." Part 5 exploits this directly:
Yesterday he ____ on the beach all afternoon.
There is no object (nothing is being put down), and the time marker is past, so the answer is lay — the past of lie. Test-takers who see lay and assume it must take an object pick the wrong verb. Read the object test first, then the tense, and the overlap stops being dangerous.
A compact reference for the forms:
| Verb | Base | Past | Past participle | Object? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| raise | raise | raised | raised | yes |
| rise | rise | rose | risen | no |
| lay | lay | laid | laid | yes |
| lie | lie | lay | lain | no |
A fast decision procedure
For any item involving these pairs, run two checks in order:
- Is there a direct object after the blank? A noun that receives the action → transitive (raise, lay). Nothing receiving the action → intransitive (rise, lie).
- Then match the tense. Once you know which verb you need, pick the right form from the table. This is the step where lie–lay–lain catches people, so confirm the tense from the sentence's time markers.
Doing the object test before the tense test is what keeps the lay overlap from costing a point.
Practice mindset
These pairs reward drilling because the rule never changes: object means transitive, no object means intransitive, and the irregular forms just need repetition until they're automatic. Pair this with related structure-reading practice — the way participle and reduced relative clauses hinge on reading what follows the verb is the same skill. For the full map of what Part 5 tests, start from what TOEIC Link Part 5 covers. When the object test is instinctive, raise/rise and lay/lie turn from memory traps into quick, reliable points.