A thousand dollars' a month raise

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hello everybody,

Is it correct to say:

  • She’s given me a thousand dollars’ a month raise
    and
  • She’s given me a thousand dollars-a-month raise?

I think the last one is wrong and I’m not sure about the first. I’ve heard the first used, but I’m not sure how you write it.

Would you please be so kind as to help me out again, please?

2 Likes
2

Here is how I would say it: She has given me a raise of one thousand dollars a month.

5 Likes
3

Thank you Torsten, that makes it a lot easier.

1 Like
4

That’s a good answer, Torsten. But it should also mean I have got a rise of one thousand dollars a month.

2 Likes
5

I’m afraid you are mistaken, Lawrence. The correct term is ‘pay raise’ and not ‘pay rise’ because your employer raises your pay, it doesn’t rise on its own :wink:

2 Likes
6

Torsten, this has been a usage of controversy. Rise is intransitive while raise is transitive. When you raise something, it rises. Suppose you have raised it to $1K from, say, $900. So, the rise is $100. I think this distinction is clearly brought out in BrE.
I’d like Alan’s comment.

3 Likes
7

I think I remember having read somewhere that the British term is ‘pay rise’ while the American version is ‘pay raise’. If you google the term ‘pay raise’ you will see that it definitely is correct.

3 Likes
8

Hi Torsten,

I’ve looked both words up. Cambridge Dictionary clearly makes a distinction between ‘pay rise’ (BrE) and ‘pay raise’ (AmE), however Collins online does not, probably because both words are intelligible, as Anglophile would say, for both American and British speakers. So, yes, it is definitely correct.
Yet, it is not surprising that even the British use ‘pay raise’, especially since our European market economy and that includes radio, cinema television, internet, is flooded, as it were, with American products., especially products imported from the USA. I say this ‘sans rancune’ towards the people from the USA. Let me be very clear about this.

Thanks.

2 Likes
9

Thank you for liking my post, Torsten.

1 Like
10

By the way, Torsten,

I heard ‘pay raise’ in an American television series. I have it on DVD and so I watched the scene, in which this was said, again. However, this time I put the English subtitles on. I clearly read: a thousand-dollars-a-month raise. I do not wish to debate about this any longer, but I want to tell you, just for your information.

By the way, did you know that our esteemed Belgian politicians still haven’t been able to establish a government. Luckily, we can professionally debate about grammar.on this forum.

Marc.

2 Likes