“appraise” vs. “apprise”
Use "appraise" for assessing the value or quality of something, and "apprise" (always with "of") for informing someone of facts or developments.
appraise
"Appraise" is a verb meaning to assess the value, quality, or condition of something, especially formally ("appraise the house before selling it"). It comes from Old French "aprisier," built from "a-" plus "pris" (price), related to "price" and "praise" itself — historically, to appraise something was to set a price on it, and "praise" originally meant something similar before narrowing to its modern sense of expressing approval.
apprise
"Apprise" is a verb meaning to inform or notify someone of something, usually followed by "of" ("apprise her of the situation"). It comes from French "apprendre" (to learn, to teach), the same root behind "apprentice" — someone being apprised is, in effect, being taught or made to learn new information.
The real distinction
"Appraise" and "apprise" are close enough in sound and spelling to be regularly swapped, especially in business and legal writing where both words appear with some frequency, but they describe two entirely different actions: "appraise" is about judging or assessing value, while "apprise" is about informing someone of facts. A reliable test: "appraise" typically takes a physical object, asset, or situation as its direct object and asks what something is worth (appraise the property, appraise the risk), while "apprise" typically takes a person as its object followed by "of" plus the information being conveyed (apprise the board of the delay, apprise him of the changes). Real estate and insurance writing rely heavily on "appraise" for the formal process of assessing a property's or item's monetary value (a licensed appraiser will appraise the home before closing), a specialized professional usage entirely distinct from "apprise." Business and legal correspondence rely on "apprise" specifically for the act of formally keeping someone informed (please keep me apprised of any developments), a phrase common enough in professional email that many writers absorb the correct spelling through repeated exposure even without consciously learning the underlying rule. Because "apprise" is the rarer and less visually familiar of the two words, writers who mean to inform someone sometimes mistakenly reach for the more common "appraise" instead, producing the nonsensical but surprisingly frequent error "please appraise me of the situation," which literally asks the reader to assess the writer's monetary value rather than simply to keep them informed. Because both words are moderately formal and appear far more often in written business correspondence than in casual speech, many writers have limited real-world exposure to seeing either word spelled out correctly, which makes a dedicated proofreading check especially worthwhile in any professional email or report using either term.
Examples with “appraise”
- A licensed professional will appraise the property before the sale.
- The insurance company appraised the damage after the storm.
- She appraised the painting and confirmed it was authentic.
- The jeweler appraised the ring at twice its purchase price.
- Management appraised the risk before approving the merger.
- The committee appraised each proposal on its own merits.
- He appraised the used car carefully before making an offer.
- The auction house appraised the collection at a significant sum.
Examples with “apprise”
- Please keep me apprised of any updates to the schedule.
- She apprised her team of the new company policy.
- The lawyer apprised his client of the latest developments.
- He was apprised of the risks before signing the contract.
- The board was apprised of the budget shortfall last week.
- Employees were apprised of the changes during the meeting.
- She apprised the committee of the survey's early results.
- The doctor apprised the family of the patient's condition.
Memory trick
Notice that "appraise" contains "praise," and both words are about judging worth, whether financial or otherwise. "Apprise" contains no such hint, but it does share its root with "apprentice," someone learning new information — a useful anchor since being apprised means being taught or informed of something new. If the sentence is about determining a value, reach for "appraise"; if it's about informing someone, always followed by "of," reach for "apprise."