Past Tense of Grow? Grew or Grown?

Grow is in the present tense. Grew is the simple past, and grown is the past participle.

What’s the past tense of “grow”? 

The verb grow is when “something increases in size or develops over time.”

Grow is an irregular verb (does not follow the standard “ed” past tense formation). Grew is the simple past tense form; grown is the past participle form.

Examples of “grew” in the past tense.

Examples: “Grew” in past tense sentences

Mary grew tomatoes in her backyard last summer.

The tree grew tall over the years.

Verb tenses of grow

Tense	Past	Present	Future
Simple	I grew	I grow	I will grow
Continuous	I was growing	I am growing	I will be growing
Perfect	I had grown	I have grown	I will have grown
Perfect Continuous	I had been growing	I have been growing	I will have been growing

To grow is the present tense: Plants grow best in sunlight.

Grows is third-person present singular: The population grows every year.

Growing is the present participle: Growing vegetables is a rewarding hobby.

Grew is the simple past: Last summer, the children grew tomatoes in the garden.

Will grow is the future tense: These seeds will grow into beautiful flowers.

Grown is the past participle: The trees had already grown tall by the time we moved in.

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When to use grew vs. grown

While both grew and grown  are used to describe actions or events that occurred in the past,  they serve slightly different purposes and are used in different contexts.

 Compare the following:

• She grew tomatoes in her backyard last summer. (simple past)

The sentence above uses the simple past tense “grew” to say that the action happened last summer and is now complete. ( tomatoes growing.) 

Now look at this;

• The plants had already grown tall when we returned from vacation. (past participle)

This sentence uses grown,  to show the state resulting from the action in the past.

“Grow”, present tense, used in sentences

• Plants grow best in sunlight.
• The economy grows when there is investment.
• Children grow quickly during their early years.
• His interest in art continues to grow.
• Do you know how tall sunflowers can grow?

“Grew”, past tense, in sentences

• Last summer, the children grew tomatoes in the garden.
• She grew up in a small town in the mountains.
• The company grew rapidly during the tech boom.
• Our friendship grew stronger over the years.
• He grew his hair long during college.

“Grown”, (past participle), used in sentences

• The trees had already grown tall by the time we moved in.
• The vegetables had been grown organically without pesticides.
• Her confidence had grown since she started her new job.
• The population had grown significantly since the last census.
• The wine had been grown in the vineyards of France.

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Synonyms of grow

• develop
• expand
• increase
• mature
• thrive
• prosper
• blossom
• flourish
• cultivate
• nurture
• advance
• augment
• rise
• escalate
• enlarge

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Origin of the word grow

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From etymology online on grow (v.):

Old English growan “to flourish, increase, develop, get bigger” (class VII strong verb; past tense greow, past participle growen), from Proto-Germanic *gro- (source also of Old Norse groa, Old Frisian groia, Dutch groeien, Old High German gruoen), from PIE root *ghre- “to grow, become green” (source also of Sanskrit jigrati “to become green,” jivati “he lives,” Greek bryein “to be full to bursting,” Lithuanian grėju “to become green,” Old Irish glass “green,” Old English grass “grass,” Old Church Slavonic zeleniji “green,” Russian zelij “green,” zelenet’ “become green,” Old Irish fel “growth,” Middle Irish feth “grass”), zero grade *ghr̥-; compare grass). Lengthened grade *gro- became Middle English growen, but modern growth is probably from influence of grow.

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