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To grow up is to become older or become an adult.
Examples of use:
1. When I grow up I want to be a doctor.
2. He grew up in Thailand.
3. She's growing up fast.
Grow up is something you say to someone who is behaving in a childish or immature way.
Examples of use:
1. You're being stupid. Why don't you grow up?
2. Oh grow up! I've heard enough of your silly jokes.
grown-up (adjective) – When children look or behave in a mature way they are grown-up.
Example of use:
1. She looked very grown-up in her new dress.
grown-up (noun) – a grown-up is an adult. Informal English – usually used by children.
Example of use:
1. He wanted to sit with the grown-ups but he had to look after his brother and sister.
| infinitive | grow up |
| present simple | grow up and grows up |
| -ing form | growing up |
| past simple | grew up |
| past participle | grown up |
For advanced learners:
Read some of the fascinating stories from a study run over 50 years testing what helps childhood dreams become reality. In 1969 when they were 11 years old, 14,000 British children were asked to write 30-minute essays predicting what they might become when they grew up.
"I plan to see the whole world before I die and maybe to see the Moon beneath my feet."
"I wish to be an author when I am older and write several books… I hope to be quite wealthy later in life when my books are published."
Image by kabils
About Angela Boothroyd
