public awareness — what people know about an issue
collocationB1IELTS 5+neutraloccasional
The level of knowledge or understanding that most people have about a particular topic, problem, or situation.
Say it like a native
Textbook Efforts were made to increase the general populace's cognisance of the issue.
Native The campaign raised public awareness of the issue.
'The populace's cognisance' is absurdly formal; 'raise public awareness' is the set phrase.
Pattern: public awareness of [something]; raise/increase public awareness
In use
- The campaign helped to increase public awareness of the dangers of smoking.society
- In my opinion, public awareness of healthy eating has grown a lot in recent years due to social media and education programs.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ The campaign rose public awareness.
✓ The campaign raised public awareness.
'Raise' (raised) awareness — not 'rose' (which can't take an object).
Common collocations
raise public awareness— raise public awareness, public awareness of, raise awareness, growing awareness
Don't confuse it
'Public awareness' is about knowledge, while 'public opinion' is about attitudes or beliefs.