To Lift Something
To Raise Something, To Increase Something
transitive verb, ichidan verb
This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means above and this verb is related to that meaning. It means to lift something or to raise something. It's a transitive verb, meaning that you do something to something else. You raise something. Like your hands!
Since this word has okurigana (hiragana attached to the kanji) you know that it's probably going to use the kun'yomi reading, which you didn't learn with the kanji. Here's a mnemonic to help you:
When you want to lift something, you always shout "Ah!" (あ) to get the extra power you need. Especially when you want to lift something over your head. Go ahead, try it now. Lift something up and shout "Ah!" Feels good, right?
スピードを上げる
to increase speed
モチベーションを上げる
to increase motivation
レベルを上げる
to raise the level
大きいブランケットをロフトに上げる。
I lift a large blanket up to the loft.
「スピーカーのボリューム、上げる？」「うん。」
"Should I turn up the volume on the speaker?" "Yeah."
ピカチュウのレベルを上げるには、どうしたらいいですか？
What can I do to raise Pikachu's level?