raise awareness — inform people
collocationB1IELTS 5+neutralcommon
To help more people know about or understand an important issue, problem, or topic.
Say it like a native
Textbook The campaign seeks to enhance public cognisance of the issue.
Native The campaign is trying to raise awareness of the issue.
'Raise awareness' is the standard collocation; 'enhance public cognisance' is jargon.
Pattern: raise awareness (of/about something)
In use
- The campaign aims to raise awareness of the dangers of smoking.society
- In my opinion, schools should do more to raise awareness of environmental issues among students.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ The charity raises awareness about for mental health.
✓ The charity raises awareness of mental health. / about mental health.
'Raise awareness OF' (or 'about') something — use one preposition, not both.
Common collocations
raise awareness of— of the issue, about the cause, among young people
Don't confuse it
Not the same as 'raise money', which means to collect funds.