crescere

grow

verb KREH-sheh-reh Less Common

Origin: from Latin 'crescere', to grow

Also means

raise

Usage Note

Crescere takes essere when intransitive ('to grow up'), but avere when transitive ('to raise children'), so sono cresciuto but ho cresciuto i figli. Its past participle cresciuto keeps the soft 'sh' sound. The related crescita is the noun for 'growth'.

Examples

"I bambini crescono in fretta."

Natural Translation

Children grow up fast.

Literal Translation

The children grow in haste.

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