An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'grow up' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context
Photo: Pexels
Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them.
This post is all about the well known phrasal verb 'to grow up', which many of you will be very familiar with, however are you familiar with the other less well known meanings? In this post, I will explain each of the different meanings for you and provide you with lots of example sentences to make it easier to learn them. So, without further ado, let's make a start....
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GROW UP: KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table, click here
Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 3 |
Past tense forms | Grew up / Grown up |
Separable? | No |
MEANINGS (Click to jump to each one)
Photo: Pexels
THE BASICS
To begin with, let's look at the individual components of the phrasal verb 'to grow up', as this will help us to understand its rarer figurative meanings.
Firstly, we have the base verb of our phrasal verb construction, 'to grow', whose principal meaning is to increase in size or height. 'To grow' is an irregular verb and is mainly used to talk about people, animals and living things, however it can be applied in more abstract contexts, like business, numbers, popularity and feelings.
Our new baby is growing so fast.
I keep watering my plants but they don't ever seem to grow.
My follower count on social media has grown this year.
Our business is expected to grow over the next 12 months.
I have a growing feeling of unease in my stomach.
Next, we have the prepositional particle 'up', meaning in the direction away from the ground or towards the sky ↑. 'Up' features extremely frequently in English phrasal verbs and in addition to conveying the idea of a movement in an upwards direction to the verb, it can also add ideas like increase (add up), improvement (look up), preparation (set up), ending (break up) and creation (make up), among others.
Do you know which of these will apply for the meanings of 'grow up'? Read on to learn more....
MEANING 1: To grow in an upwards direction
Photo: Pixels
CEFR Language Level | A2 - Elementary |
Usage | Rare |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To grow |
Separable? | No |
Let's start the meanings off with a nice and simple one as this first one is simply the literal combination of the two words, i.e. to grow in an upwards direction. This is in fact just a variation of the verb 'to grow', with additional emphasis on the upwards direction.
As the idea of 'up' is already implicit in the idea of the verb 'to grow', the use of 'grow up' to describe something growing in size is not normally necessary in English. As a result, this literal usage is very rare. If we do use it, it is mainly for describing the growth of plants, trees and flowers, to emphasise that they are growing in an up ↑ direction, rather than down ↓ or out ←→(across).
We do not use 'grow up' to describe people getting taller. To do this we only use 'grow'.
It is also possible to use the construction 'to grow up + noun' to talk about when a plant grows up against the surface of another object. Photo: Pexels
Plants grow up and not down or out because they need sunlight.
The ivy has been growing up the wall for many years.
Another form that we can use and that you should be aware of is 'to grow upwards'. The prefix -wards in English is always used to identify a direction of movement, so 'to grow upwards' is a nice alternative way to say that something is growing in an up direction. This is also a very natural way of saying it.
Furthermore, if growth is happening towards something e.g. the sky, we can use the construction 'to grow up towards + noun'....
The sunflower that we planted last year is growing up towards the roof of the house.
Plants naturally grow upwards in search of sunlight.
MEANING 2 - To grow from a child to an adult
Photo: Pexels
CEFR Language Level | A2 - Elementary |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To mature, to age |
Separable? | No |
In English, this second usage of 'grow up' is by far the most common one in use and is therefore the one which you probably already know, which is 'to grow from a child to an adult'.
This application is usually used to describe the PROCESS of growing from an adult to a child over time.
This can be in a physical sense and also in a mental or spiritual sense.
'Grow up' is only used to describe people and is not generally used to talk about animals or businesses.
In usage, it is often used by adults to refer to their past or the period of time when they were a child.....
I grew up in Birmingham, close to a really big park, which we played in every summer.
When I was growing up I hated school but now that I am an adult, I wish I could go back!
He was born in Edinburgh but he grew up in Glasgow.
I had blond hair when I was growing up.
Also, children often use it to talk about what job they want to do when they become an adult....
When I grow up I want to be a doctor and have an enormous house with a swimming pool.
What does your daughter want to do when she grows up?
My daughter wants to be a police officer when she grows up.
WHAT IF WE WANT TO USE IT AS AN IMPERATIVE?
'Grow up' is often used by native speakers in the imperative form ("Grow up!") to show annoyance when someone is acting in a silly way or like a child.
If you want to add some extra impact to this, you could insert 'the hell' or 'the f**k' between 'grow' and 'up' to show that you are very annoyed.
Oh grow up, John! It's really not funny!
Whoever is playing these jokes on me needs to grow up! It's not funny!
Seriously, Matt, it's about time that you grew the hell up and stopped acting like such a baby.
BONUS INFORMATION #1: To grow up into
If we want to talk about who or what a person will be at the end of the growing up process, it is necessary to add the extra preposition 'into'.....
I see that you have grown up into a fine young man!
There are many child actors who grow up into Hollywood film stars.
BONUS INFORMATION #2 : To grow up + gerund
One way to talk about something that we did often or regularly when we were children is to use the simple past form of the verb (grew up), followed by the verb or action in the continuous ('ing) form. This is often (but not always) with verbs related to the senses e.g. to watch, to listen to etc.
I grew up listening to Michael Jackson and Madonna and so I still love their songs today.
My mother is Polish, my father is German and I live in the USA, so I grew up speaking three languages.
BONUS INFORMATION #3: 'Grown-up' as a noun
Before we finish this section, I just want to make you aware of the existence of the noun 'grown-up', which is used commonly in everyday English when dealing with children. A 'grown-up' is simply just a synonym for the noun 'adult' and simply refers to someone who has finished the growing up process and is no longer a child. It tends to be used a lot when talking to children and is often what a child will say instead of 'adult'. Moreover, it can also be used as an adjective.
Grown-ups always talk about boring things.
I was allowed to sit at the big dinner table with the grown-ups today.
That was a very grown-up thing to say!
Mary has a grown-up daughter who lives in London.
MEANING 3 - To start to develop
Photo: Pixels
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Rare |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To develop, to spring up |
Separable? | No |
Our third and final application of 'grow up' is a much rarer and more advanced idiomatic one, meaning 'to begin to exist'.
This meaning is not used to talk about people, but rather things that are founded, created or developed by people and these things include businesses, towns and cities as well as abstract items such as theories and academic schools of thought.
As it is used to talk about the origin of things, it is often found in historical contexts.
The idea grew up in the 17th century during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
The river made trading possible and as a result many towns grew up alongside it.
A vibrant community grew up around the shared love of art and creativity.
New businesses are starting to grow up in the formerly abandoned neighborhood.
Photo: Pixels
SAY IT LIKE A NATIVE: TYPICAL EXAMPLES OF HOW 'GROW UP' IS USED BY NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS....
If you can memorise some of the sentences below and use them in a conversation, it will help your English to come across as more natural and like that of a native speaker. You'll need to use your imagination to complete some of them.
When I grow up I want to.......
When I was growing up I......
He / she is growing up so fast!
It's about time you grew up and got....
I want my children and grandchildren to grow up in a world where.....
[Person] and I grew up together.
[Gerund] is a natural part of growing up.
It is very close to the city where I grew up.
Photo: Pixels
POTENTIAL IELTS QUESTIONS
Should children grow up in the city or in the countryside?
Where did you grow up? Describe it.
Is it better to grow up with or without siblings?
OTHER OPEN QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER PRACTICE
What is your favourite memory of when you were growing up?
Did you have a skill or talent when you were growing up that you no longer have? What was it?
If you could have grown up in a different place, where would you have chosen to live?
Has your taste in music changed since you were growing up?
How has the village, town or city where you grew up changed since that time?
Photo: Pixels
We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts.
Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'grow up'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!!
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THE END
Congratulations nice article.....this blog is very useful,should be read by those who are growing up and would like to learn to speak native English