Appraise means to judge the value or quality of something, while apprise means to inform someone. Memory hook: appraise contains PRAISE, which is a kind of judgement, and apprise contains RISE, as in someone rising up to speed on the facts.
The core difference
Appraise is about assessing worth; apprise is about telling someone something.
- appraise — to assess the value or quality of something: The jeweller appraised the ring at two thousand pounds.
- apprise — to inform or notify someone: Please apprise the team of the change in schedule.
- Common pattern — apprise is usually followed by of: She apprised him of the situation.
How to tell them apart
Ask yourself whether you are putting a value on something or passing on information. If you are valuing a painting, a house or someone's performance, the word is appraise. If you are telling a person something, it is apprise.
The mix-up shows up most in formal writing, such as emails and reports, where someone writes that they will appraise a colleague of developments. That should be apprise. A useful trick: appraise has praise inside it, and praise is a judgement, while apprise is the one that means letting someone know.
