I want my kids to grow strong and heathy

[keannu]

Can an adjective describe a verb? In 1, "strong and healthy" describes "grow", and you wouldn't say "grow strongly and healthily". In 2, "carefully" is describing "talked", and you wouldn't say "talk....as careful". So is there a rule to explain 1? Or no rule?

1.I want my kids to grow strong and heathy
2.He talked about her as carefully as he could.

 

[Chicken Sandwich]

Grow in this sense is a linking verb.

6 a always followed by an adjective [linking verb] : become
▪ He suddenly grew pale. ▪ He had grown tired of hearing about their problems. ▪ She grew fat due to her lack of exercise. ▪ He's worried about growing old. ▪ These diseases are growing more common. ▪ We have grown accustomed to his angry outbursts.
Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary

 

[keannu]

I meant "grow" not as "become" but as "grow up to be an adult". In the latter case, does it need "strongly and healthily"?

 

[tzfujimino]

I meant "grow" not as "become" but as "grow up to be an adult". In the latter case, does it need "strongly and healthily"?

Hello, keannu.
:-D
Well, in my opinion, 'grow strongly' and 'grow healthily' are grammatical.
They are used like these:
114 sentence examples using 'grow strongly'
Use 'grow healthily' in a sentence | 'grow healthily' sentence examples

And one more:
18 sentence examples using 'grow strong and healthy'

So, I came to the conclusion that #1 is natural.
"I want my kids grow strongly and healthily." is not.

I hope I'm not talking nonsense.

 

[SoothingDave]

I meant "grow" not as "become" but as "grow up to be an adult". In the latter case, does it need "strongly and healthily"?

No, it's unnatural. Understand "grow up strong" to mean "grow up (to be) strong.")

 

[Chicken Sandwich]

I meant "grow" not as "become" but as "grow up to be an adult". In the latter case, does it need "strongly and healthily"?

"Grow" in "I want my kids to grow strong and healthy" (note the spelling of healthy) is a linking verb and it takes an adjective. It means "become".

 

[keannu]

From this passage, did the writer mean "to become strong and healthy" or "to grow(develop a body) strong and healthy"? As tzf said, is the latter correct?

ex1)Japanese believe that the louder babies cry, the more blessing they will receive by getting closer to heaven. Every eyar, people who want their babies to grow strong and healthy take part in this contest.

One more, does this example mean 1 or 2? "Grow up" sometimes feels dubious to me.
ex1) I want my baby to grow up strongly and healthily
1.I want my baby to grow up in the process of becoming strong and healthy(process)
2.I want my baby to grow up and and fianally become strong and healthy(result)

 

[philo2009]

'Strong' and 'healthy' are complements here to an implied copular infinitive, i.e. (as another user has noted) = grow up to be strong and healthy.

Just as a matter of interest, we rarely modify the verb 'grow' with manner adverbs even when, as a non-copular, it means simply 'get bigger'. Thus rather than unnatural

?The tree grew strongly.

we would say, e.g.

The tree thrived.

etc.

 

[keannu]

Okay, I was mistaken. I thought this "grow" means "get bigger", but it means "become".
And native speakers rarely describe "grow" with the sense of "get bigger" with adverbs, so "The babies grew up healthily" is awkward.

people who want their babies to grow strong and healthy take part in this contest.

 

[philo2009]

Okay, I was mistaken. I thought this "grow" means "get bigger", but it means "become".
And native speakers rarely describe "grow" with the sense of "get bigger" with adverbs, so "The babies grew up healthily" is awkward.

people who want their babies to grow strong and healthy take part in this contest.

I would say that the semantic interpretation of 'grow' here is highly ambiguous, which almost certainly explains how 'grow' came to be a synonym of 'become' in the first place!