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Jaytan1
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Please Help - SC 29 Oct 2017, 13:27
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"The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods."

Does it okay to write 'grow to be'? or it should be "grow up to"?

Example: 'A five year old boy can grow up to seven feet in tall'. NOT "A five year old boy can grow to be seven feet in tall

Any thoughts?
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Please Help - SC 29 Oct 2017, 17:59
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Jaytan1
"The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods."

Does it okay to write 'grow to be'? or it should be "grow up to"?

Example: 'A five year old boy can grow up to seven feet in tall'. NOT "A five year old boy can grow to be seven feet in tall

Any thoughts?
Show more

If you want a quicker resolution to your query , please post it here
https://gmatclub.com/forum/sentence-correction-sc-138/
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mikemcgarry
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Please Help - SC 31 Oct 2017, 10:05
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Jaytan1
"The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods."

Does it okay to write 'grow to be'? or it should be "grow up to"?

Example: 'A five year old boy can grow up to seven feet in tall'. NOT "A five year old boy can grow to be seven feet in tall

Any thoughts?
Show more
Dear Jaytan1,

I'm happy to respond. :-)

My friend, if you don't mind, I will begin by correcting your grammar. You wrote
Does it okay to write . . .
This should be
Is it okay to write . . .
We always use "is" with an infinitive subject.

You asked about idioms with the word "grow."
A killer whale can grow to be 30 feet long.
That sentence is 100% correct. Including the word "up" would be awkward and 100% wrong.

The idiom "to grow up" is very informal and casual, and is used only for human beings, usually children.
A five year old boy can grow to be seven feet tall
A five year old boy can grow to be seven feet in height.
Those two sentences are 100% correct. Either could be right on the GMAT. The version you wrote had another mistake:
A five year old boy can grow to be seven feet in tall.
We can use the preposition "in" with the noun "height," but never with the adjective "tall." Here's a casual version.
A five year old boy can grow up to be seven feet tall.
This is conversational and casual. It's not wrong, but it's very informal. This is how people might speak in everyday life, but this is not the language you would find on the GMAT.

My friend, I am going to recommend this blog:
How to Improve Your GMAT Verbal Score

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)