To improve means to make something better or to become better. It describes a positive change in quality, performance, condition, or value — and is used both transitively and intransitively.
What Does Improve Mean?
Improve is one of the most versatile and frequently used verbs in English. In its transitive form it means to make something better: improve your skills, improve the design, improve your diet. In its intransitive form it means to become better on its own: the weather improved, her health improved, relations between the two countries improved.
The word appears in academic writing, everyday conversation, business communication, and news reporting alike. Learning its collocations and word family will dramatically increase your range as an English speaker and writer.
Compare improve with closely related verbs: enhance adds quality to something already good; develop emphasises growth over time; upgrade suggests a step up to a higher version or standard. Improve is the most neutral and broadly applicable of these choices.
Etymology
Word Origins
Improve entered English in the 15th century from Anglo-French emprouwer (to turn to profit), built from the prefix en- (into) and Old French prou (profit, advantage), which derives from Late Latin prode (useful, beneficial). The earliest meaning in English was quite specific: to use or cultivate land profitably. By the 17th century the sense had broadened to its modern meaning of making something better in any respect. The suffix -ment added to improve gives the common noun improvement, first attested in the mid-17th century.
Example Sentences
| Sentence | Level | Usage note |
|---|---|---|
| I want to improve my English. | A2 | transitive — improve + object |
| She practises every day to improve her pronunciation. | B1 | infinitive of purpose (to improve) |
| The situation has improved significantly since last year. | B1 | intransitive — present perfect |
| Regular feedback from customers helped the company improve its services considerably. | B2 | transitive with adverb and agent phrase |
| It remains to be seen whether diplomatic talks will improve upon the fragile ceasefire established last month. | C1 | improve upon — phrasal form, formal register |
Collocations
Learning these common combinations will help you use improve naturally in context.
| Collocation | Example |
|---|---|
| improve your skills | Taking an online course is a great way to improve your skills. |
| improve your English | Reading every day will help you improve your English vocabulary. |
| improve performance | The new software was designed to improve performance across all devices. |
| dramatically improve | The introduction of clean water dramatically improved public health. |
| significantly improve | The changes significantly improved our working conditions. |
| improve with practice | Speaking confidence usually improves with practice. |
| improve over time | The relationship between the two teams improved over time. |
| improve the situation | What steps can we take to improve the situation? |
| improve on / upon | She managed to improve on her previous record by three seconds. |
| room to improve | There is still plenty of room to improve in the second half of the season. |
Usage Notes
How to Use Improve Correctly
- Transitive use: When improve takes a direct object, the object is the thing made better. She improved her score. The council improved the roads.
- Intransitive use: Improve can stand alone when the subject itself becomes better. Her score improved. The roads have improved.
- improve on / upon: This phrasal form means to do or produce something better than an existing standard. It would be hard to improve on this result. Both on and upon are correct; upon is slightly more formal.
- Continuous tenses: Improve is frequently used in continuous tenses to describe ongoing positive change. Things are improving. The economy was improving before the crisis.
- Adverbs: Strongly collocates with significantly, dramatically, considerably, gradually, steadily, markedly. In formal writing prefer these over the informal a lot.
Common Mistakes
Watch Out For
I want to improve in my English. (incorrect preposition — no preposition needed)
I want to improve my English.
She improved her pronunciation by practise every day. (by requires a gerund, not a base form)
She improved her pronunciation by practising every day.
The results improved up. (improve up does not exist in English)
The results improved. / The results improved significantly.
We need to make improve our system. (confusing make and improve — use one verb)
We need to improve our system.