INCREASE vs. DECREASE

Welcome back to the Daily Vitamin. I hope you are having a great day. 

Yesterday we looked at the verbs grow (to increase in size) and grow up (to change from childhood to adulthood).

There are many different ways to indicate an increase in size and this week we will look at some verbs that express this concept.

TO INCREASE
It means: to get bigger.

We usually use this verb to indicate that a specific amount or quantity or number of something is getting bigger. For this reason, this word is used a lot when talking about finances. To say how much something has increased (with a specific amount), we use the preposition by.

Example 1: The company's profits have increased by 20% this year.

Example 2: The number of school-aged children in my town is increasing every year. However, the number of schools is not!

TO DECREASE
It means: to get smaller.

It is the opposite of increase, but we use it in the same way.

Example 3: The director wants a proposal from each department on how to decrease costs by at least 10%.

Example 4: I don't think that the price of housing will ever decrease in Barcelona, in spite of what the analysts say.

Increase and decrease can also be nouns.

Example 5: There was a 5% increase in the cost of living in 2025.

NOTE: The pronunciation of the noun form is with the spoken-stress on the first syllable: IN-crease DE-crease

Tomorrow we will look at some other synonyms for increase and decrease.

If you have any questions about these words, please post your questions or comments on one of our social media sites (Facebook or Bluesky). To get some writing practice in English, I also encourage you to write a sentence with one or both of these words. We will correct your sentences ASAP. 

Enjoy the rest of your day!