grow up
grow
The solution to adult problems tomorrow depends on large measure upon how our children grow up today.
La soluzione ai problemi degli adulti domani dipende in larga misura da come i nostri figli crescono oggi.
– Margaret Mead
La soluzione ai problemi degli adulti domani dipende in larga misura da come i nostri figli crescono oggi.
– Margaret Mead
✓ I grew up in London.
✗ I *grew* in London.
Sono cresciuto a Londra.
A common but easy-to-understand mistake.
The verb grow alone simply means “get bigger physically”. For example:
✓ How you’ve grown!
Quanto sei cresciuta!
Grow also means “become more intense”. For example:
✓ Tension is growing on the border.
La tensione sale al confine.
The phrasal verb grow up means become an adult. For example:
✓ What do you want to be when you grow up?
✗ What do you want to be when you *grow*?
Cosa vorresti fare da grande?
We can also tell someone to grow up when we think they are behaving in an immature way.
✓ It’s time you grew up and took some responsibility.
Sarebbe ora che tu crescessi e accettassi della responsabilità.
When we speak to children, we usually call adults grown-ups:
✓ If you’re not sure, ask a grown-up.
Se non sei sicuro, chiedi a un adulto.
We can also use grown-up as an adjective, especially to describe children or teenagers who are mature for their age:
✓ She’s only twelve, but she’s very grown-up.
Ha solo dodici anni ma è molto matura.
Now try the quiz below! There are TEN answers. The pass mark is 90% (9 out of 10). Click on the blue arrows to go to the next or previous question. You can check your answers immediately or when you’ve finished the quiz.