Quick answer: If you are keeping someone informed, you want to be apprised of the situation. Appraised means to assess the value or quality of something. You are never “appraised of the situation” unless someone is evaluating your current state like a piece of real estate.
As a veteran copy editor, I see this exact error constantly in cover letters, corporate emails, and legal briefs. The words apprised and appraised look and sound nearly identical, making them a prime target for autocorrect mishaps and mental typos. However, mixing them up can instantly undermine your professional credibility and confuse your reader. This guide gives you the definitive rules, real-world examples, and memory tricks to ensure you always choose the right word and communicate with absolute clarity.
| Term | Meaning / When to use | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Apprised | To inform or notify someone; keeping someone updated on facts, developments, or circumstances. | “Please keep me apprised of the situation regarding the client merger.” |
| Appraised | To assess the monetary value, quality, or performance of something or someone. | “The antique vase was appraised at over five thousand dollars before the auction.” |
When to use apprised
Use apprised when the goal is communication, notification, or updating. It is almost always followed by the preposition “of” (e.g., apprised of the situation, apprised of the changes, apprised of the risks). According to Merriam-Webster, apprise means “to give information to : tell.”
In professional writing, this word is your go-to verb for establishing transparency and maintaining a chain of information. When a leader or manager uses this word correctly, it signals collaborative transparency. Using the wrong word here subtly shifts the dynamic from sharing information to evaluative judgment, which can confuse or even offend the recipient.
Here are concrete, real-world examples of how this error appears and how to fix it:
- Corporate Email Error: “I will keep you appraised of the situation as the software rollout continues this week.”
- Corporate Email Fix: “I will keep you apprised of the situation as the software rollout continues this week.”
- Resume Line Error: “Appraised senior management of weekly sales metrics and regional market shifts to drive strategy.”
- Resume Line Fix: “Apprised senior management of weekly sales metrics and regional market shifts to drive strategy.”
- Text Message Error: “Just wanted to make sure you were appraised of the meeting time change for tomorrow.”
- Text Message Fix: “Just wanted to make sure you were apprised of the meeting time change for tomorrow.”
In legal and medical fields, being “apprised” is a formal standard of care or due diligence. A doctor must ensure a patient is fully apprised of the procedural risks before obtaining consent. A lawyer must keep a client apprised of upcoming court dates and filing deadlines. Using “appraised” in these contexts suggests the professional is valuing the patient or client like a used car, which is both grammatically incorrect and professionally tone-deaf.
When to use appraised
Use appraised when assigning a monetary value, estimating worth, or evaluating performance. It is deeply rooted in the concept of valuation, judgment, and formal assessment. According to Grammarly, appraise is most commonly used when talking about estimating the value of property or evaluating an employee’s performance.
If you can replace the verb in your sentence with “evaluated,” “valued,” or “graded,” then appraised is the only correct choice. The noun form of this action is appraisal. You get a home appraisal, a performance appraisal, or a jewelry appraisal.
Here are concrete, real-world examples of how this error appears in valuation contexts and how to fix it:
- Real Estate Context Error: “The house was apprised at $450,000 by the bank before we listed it on the open market.”
- Real Estate Context Fix: “The house was appraised at $450,000 by the bank before we listed it on the open market.”
- HR Performance Review Error: “During the annual review cycle, the manager will apprise the employee’s contributions to the team and set new goals.”
- HR Performance Review Fix: “During the annual review cycle, the manager will appraise the employee’s contributions to the team and set new goals.”
- Antique and Insurance Context Error: “Please send the inherited jewelry to our certified expert so it can be apprised for your homeowner’s insurance policy.”
- Antique and Insurance Context Fix: “Please send the inherited jewelry to our certified expert so it can be appraised for your homeowner’s insurance policy.”
The financial and legal ramifications of misusing this term in contracts or insurance claims can be severe. If an insurance document states that an item was “apprised” rather than “appraised,” it creates ambiguity about whether a formal valuation took place, potentially delaying a legitimate claim payout. Precision in this word choice protects all parties involved.
How to remember the difference
If you frequently second-guess which word to use, rely on these proven memory tricks and editorial insights to lock in the correct spelling.
The “I” vs “A” Trick Look closely at the middle letter of the root word.
- ApprAise has an A, which stands for Assess or Appraise Assets.
- ApprIse has an I, which stands for Inform or Include someone in the loop.
The “Prize” Connection To appraise something is to figure out its prize (its value, worth, or monetary equivalent). If you are not talking about money, market worth, or performance grading, do not use the word containing the “a”.
The Substitution Test Before you hit send, mentally substitute the word “informed” or “valued” into your sentence.
- “Please keep me informed of the situation.” (This makes sense, so use apprised).
- “The house was valued at $450,000.” (This makes sense, so use appraised).
Etymological Insight Understanding the history of these words makes the distinction obvious. Appraise comes from the Old French apriser, meaning “to set a price on.” Apprise comes from the Old French apprendre, meaning “to learn” or “to teach” (the exact same root as the modern French verb apprendre). Knowing that apprise shares a direct ancestral root with “learning” makes it clear that it relates to sharing information and knowledge, not calculating financial worth.
Common mistakes and exceptions
Even experienced writers stumble over these words due to a few specific linguistic traps. Being aware of these pitfalls will help you proofread your own work more effectively.
The Autocorrect Trap Modern word processors and smartphone keyboards aggressively autocorrect “apprised” to “appraised.” This happens because “appraised” is statistically more common in general text databases, largely due to the high volume of real estate and human resources documents processed globally. Always double-check this specific word before hitting send on an important email or finalizing a formal document. Do not trust your spellchecker on homophones.
The Passive Voice Confusion Writers often stumble when constructing sentences in the passive voice. “He was apprised of the situation” is perfectly correct. However, “He was appraised of the situation” implies someone evaluated him like an object or a piece of property. If the subject of your sentence is a person receiving information, the verb must always be apprised.
US vs. UK Differences There is no regional spelling difference between the United States and the United Kingdom for these two specific words. Both American and British English use apprised for informing and appraised for valuing. However, be careful with related nouns. Some non-native speakers attempt to coin the word “apprisal” by false analogy to “appraisal.” This is universally considered an error in all major English dialects. The act of informing someone is a “notification” or an “update,” not an “apprisal.”
Reflexive Usage Limits You can “appraise yourself” (evaluate your own performance or worth), but you cannot standardly “apprise yourself” of a situation. While you might occasionally see this in highly archaic texts, modern standard English requires you to “inform yourself,” “familiarize yourself,” or “educate yourself” about a topic.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I say “keep me appraised of the situation”? No. You should always say “keep me apprised of the situation.” Saying “keep me appraised” implies you want someone to continuously evaluate your monetary worth or job performance, which is almost never the intended meaning in standard professional communication.
Is “apprisal” a real word in the English dictionary? No. “Apprisal” is a common malapropism and is not recognized in standard dictionaries. The correct noun form for the act of informing someone is simply “notification” or “update,” while the noun for evaluating financial worth is “appraisal.”
Does “apprised” always require the preposition “of”? Almost always. The standard, universally accepted grammatical construction is “to apprise someone of something.” While you might occasionally encounter “apprise someone about” in casual speech, “of” is the most professional and correct preposition to pair with this verb in formal writing.
Are the words appraise and advise synonyms? No, they serve entirely different functions. To advise means to offer recommendations, guidance, or counsel (e.g., “I advise you to wait for the market to stabilize”). To apprise means to simply deliver facts, data, or information (e.g., “I will apprise you of the market data”). You can apprise someone of a situation without advising them on what to do about it.
Betty Walker is a seasoned editor and English language specialist with over a decade of experience in the field. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Yale University, where she developed her keen eye for detail and her passion for precise language use. Betty’s journey into word comparisons was sparked by her work as an editor, where she frequently encountered the need for clarity between similar terms. As an advocate for clear and effective communication, she is committed to helping others navigate the complexities of English word choices. At WordChoiceHub, Betty crafts content that demystifies language puzzles and enriches readers’ vocabularies. Her areas of expertise include distinguishing commonly confused words and providing practical guidance for their usage in real-world scenarios. Known for her insightful and engaging writing style, she enjoys creating content that resonates with both native speakers and ESL learners, emphasizing the importance of context in influencing word choice.