grew

grew — verb

1. past form of 'grow' — to become larger in size, height, or amount over time, as

1.動詞不及物A2
釋義

past form of 'grow' — to become larger in size, height, or amount over time, as a living thing or a measurable quantity.

例句

The oak tree in our backyard grew almost two metres last summer.

intransitive: grew + measurement phrase

Quan's tomato plants grew quickly after he watered them every morning.

intransitive: grew + adverb of manner

反義詞
  • shrank

    past tense of shrink, meaning became smaller

文法句型

grew [amount]

grew [prepositional phrase]

用法筆記

This is the irregular past simple form of 'grow'. Unlike regular verbs that add -ed, 'grew' changes its vowel entirely. The past participle is 'grown' (e.g., 'The tree has grown very tall').

常見錯誤

❌The plant growed very fast.
✅The plant grew very fast.
💡'grew' is irregular and does not take the -ed ending.
❌He has grew a lot this year.
✅He has grown a lot this year.
💡Use 'grown' (past participle) after 'has/have/had', not 'grew'.

2. past form of 'grow' — to gradually change in character, quality, or feeling over

2.動詞不及物A2
釋義

past form of 'grow' — to gradually change in character, quality, or feeling over time. This includes becoming different through an adjective (grew stronger) and developing a feeling or attitude through a to-infinitive (grew to love).

例句

As the year went by, Élise grew more confident in her French classes.

grew + comparative adjective (more confident)

The friendship between Ezra and Min grew stronger after they worked on the project together.

grew + comparative adjective (stronger)

同義詞
  • became

    more general; does not carry the sense of gradual, natural progression

  • developed

    focuses on the process of improvement or complexity increasing

  • came to

    very similar for the to-infinitive pattern; 'came to realise/love/accept'

  • began to

    emphasises the starting point rather than the gradual process

反義詞
  • declined

    suggests a gradual worsening or decrease

文法句型

grew + adjective

grew + to-infinitive

用法筆記

Common in narrative writing to describe gradual change. Works with both adjectives (grew stronger, grew quieter) and to-infinitives (grew to like, grew to understand). The to-infinitive pattern always expresses a feeling or attitude that developed slowly, often after an initial period of not feeling that way.

常見錯誤

❌I grew loving the city after a year.
✅I grew to love the city after a year.
💡Use 'grew + to-infinitive', not 'grew + -ing form', to show gradual development of a feeling.