What’s the past tense of grow: grew or grown?
Which is it: grew or grown? What’s the correct past tense of the (present tense verb) grow? To keep it simple, grow is one of those irregular verbs with 3 verb forms. All this means is that the verb grow changes between the present tense, past tense and its past participle form.
Since ‘grow‘ is grammatically an ‘irregular verb’ (it does not end in –ed in either of its past forms), the word grow is grouped with other, similarly irregular verbs that likewise have two past tense conjugations:
| Base verb | Past tense | Past participle |
|---|---|---|
| grow | grew | grown |
| give | gave | given |
| begin | began | begun |
| sing | sang | sung |
| drink | drank | drunk |
The meaning of “grow”
The verb and word, grow, defined by the Oxford Learner’s dictionary, is understood as, “to increase in size, number, strength or quality.” Another understanding (defined by Merriam-Webster’s, grow) is ‘to spring up and develop to maturity’. An example of the word in conversation could be, ‘You’ve grown (past participle) so much since the last time I saw you!’
When to use “grew” vs. “grown”
| simple past | The company profits grew by 5 per cent last year. |
| present perfect | Nick‘s grown almost an inch in the last month. |
The sentence in the present perfect uses an apostrophe ‘s after Nick’s name. We use apostrophes to show a possessive, but we also use them to form a contraction; i.e., a shortened form of Nick has.
We would not say ‘Nick grown almost an inch…’ because it misses the auxiliary verb to complement the participle ‘grown‘ in the sentence. Conversely, if we were to exchange the participle grown with the past tense grew, the sentence would be correct: Nick grew almost an inch in the last month.
So, we use the participle form of grow (“grown”) with auxiliaries, like had/have (to create perfect and continuous tenses in grammar). Simple tense constructions, on the other hand, do not use auxiliary verbs to denote an action or event’s relation to time.
Sentences with “grow” (present simple)
| Verb: Grow | Example sentences |
|---|---|
| Grow (grows/growing) |
The tomatoes are still growing in my garden. These flowers grow in tropical climates. She grows all types of vegetables in her backyard. |
| Grew/grown | I grew tired as the hours passed. I've grown accustomed to his looks. They had grown pumpkins in the fall. |
| Word | Similar words |
|---|---|
| the word grow | age, advance, cultivate, develop, mature |
Origin of the word grow
Old English growan (of plants) “to flourish, increase, develop, get bigger” from Proto-Germanic gro- from PIE root ghre- “to grow, become green”.
Practice: Grew or grown
She ______ all of these vegetables in her own backyard garden.
His confidence had ______ significantly after his first successful presentation.
A sunflower always ______ towards the light.
The children are ______ tired of playing the same game.
We want to ______ our business by expanding into new markets.
FAQs
What is grow’s simple past tense?
+
What are the 3 forms of grow?
+
When do I use “grew”?
+
When do I use “grown”?
+
Why is “has grew” wrong?
+
Sources
-
Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of grow.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/sew. Accessed 6 March, 2023.
Yash, D. "How to Use Grew or Grown (Explained, With Examples)." Grammarflex, Aug 24, 2025, https://grammarflex.com/grew-or-grown/.
