She grew up to become or she grew into ....?

[JACEK1]

Hello everybody!

Suppose that I am describing to you a little girl who was very ugly. As tiime went by, however, she became very beautiful.

How should I express this thought?

1. She grew up to become a beautiful young girl.
2. She grew into a beautiful young girl.

Do the sentences mean exactly the same?

Thank you.

 

[emsr2d2]

Without wishing to condone commenting on people's attractiveness (or otherwise), it seems unlikely that a very ugly child would grow up to be a very beautiful woman.

Grammatically, both your sentences are OK.

 

[JACEK1]

I should have written 'ugly'. Since "grow up to become" and "grow into" mean the same, are they always used under the same circumstances?

 

[jutfrank]

They don't mean exactly the same, no. Sentence 2. is the one you want.

The verb grew up in sentence 1. suggests to me to become a beautiful young woman.

 

[jutfrank]

"grow up to become" and "grow into" mean the same, are they always used under the same circumstances?

They have different uses/meanings.

to grow up basicallymeans to complete the process of becoming an adult

to grow into something very basically means to become something. You could also understand it to mean to grow to fit something (even when the something is a description.) It doesn't necessarily contain the idea of completion.

 

[teechar]

I would say, "She grew up to be a beautiful young girl."

 

[Raymott]

"She grew up into the ceiling."
"She grew up to become the ceiling."

 

[JACEK1]

I don't know why the example with the ceiling is used and what it is supposed to mean.

 

[Tdol]

I would say, "She grew up to be a beautiful young girl."

I'd do the same. I could use become with something like her profession.

 

[Raymott]

It's a bit of light relief.
More seriously, it's an example of sentences needing context.
Thirdly, it's a demonstration that the two phrases don't mean the same (albeit that you'd have to understand the sentences to realise that).