One syllable: Grew.
groo
/ɡɹu/
Grew is pronounced groo (/ɡɹu/). It has one syllable (Grew), with the stress on "Grew". Grew is the past tense of grow, meaning to have increased in size, amount, or strength. It denotes a completed or past action of development, often reflecting gradual change over time. In use, it appears in narratives and summaries to describe growth that has already occurred.
verbGrew is the past tense of grow, meaning to have increased in size, amount, or strength. It denotes a completed or past action of development, often reflecting gradual change over time. In use, it appears in narratives and summaries to describe growth that has already occurred.
"The plant grew taller after weeks of sunlight."
"Over the years, the company grew from a small startup to a regional leader."
"Her interest in science grew after she attended the conference."
Pronounce it as /ɡruː/. It rhymes with 'blew' and 'blue'. The initial /ɡ/ is a hard g, followed by the long 'oo' vowel /ruː/ where your mouth is rounded and your jaw drops slightly to lengthen the vowel. The tongue sits high and back under the hard palate. Use a long, tense vowel like 'oo' in 'food'. Audio guidance: try to match the long /uː/ sound, maintaining steady voicing without trailing off. IPA shows the single syllable with a long vowel.
Two common errors: 1) Shortening the vowel to /u/ as in 'put' rather than the long /uː/. 2) Adding an extra consonant sound after the vowel, like /ɡrju/? or omitting the /r/ influence in some non-rhotic accents. Correct by maintaining the long /uː/ with a rounded lips and keeping the /r/ articulation smooth but not intrusive. Practice with minimal pairs: grew vs greet vs grew with a slowed, precise /ruː/ sequence.
In rhotic US, you hear a clear /ɡruː/ with a true /r/ after the /g/. In non-rhotic UK accents, the /r/ is weaker or non-rhotic in some contexts, but when followed by a vowel, you often still hear a linking /r/ in careful speech; the length of /uː/ remains long. Australian English keeps a similar /ɡruː/ but with a slightly higher vowel height and less vowel reduction in fast speech. Across all, the core is /ɡruː/, but vocalics vary, especially in rhoticity and vowel quality.
The difficulty lies in producing the long, tense /uː/ vowel quickly after /ɡ/ and maintaining the clean /r/ sound in connected speech. Learners sometimes shorten the vowel, or produce a 'grow' with a reduced vowel, or insert an extra /j/ or /w/ onset to neighboring words. You’ll hear the pure /ɡruː/ when you practice with minimal pairs and slow repeats, paying attention to lip rounding and jaw position.
Grew’s most distinctive feature is the long, tense vowel /uː/ following a hard /g/. This creates a concise, one-syllable word that can comfortably join rapid speech without vowel reduction. Its spelling hides a past-tense-to-present-tense relationship, but pronunciation remains stable across contexts. The contrast with 'grass' or 'grow' emphasizes the difference between the vowel length and the noun vs verb usage in other forms.
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Grew derives from Old English gripe? The actual word comes from the strong verb grow, which is Germanic in origin. The verb grow itself relates to increasing in size or development. The Proto-Germanic root *grōwjaną or related forms point to growth, swelling, or expansion. In Old English, the past tense of grow was grew, aligning with the weak/strong verb distinctions in early Germanic languages. The modern past tense form changed in some dialects and standardization over time, with grew appearing as the simple past for the strong verb set, while the past participle is grown. The semantic core—change in size, extent, or development—remains consistent from early Germanic to contemporary English. First known written attestations appear in Old English medical and agricultural writings, where growth of crops and limbs of plants or animals is described, evolving into general use in narrative prose by the Middle English period. Over centuries, the spelling solidified to grew as a one-syllable past tense verb, with grown as the past participle and present tense grow continuing to describe ongoing development.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Grew" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "Grew" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "Grew"
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