How to: "grows" or "grows"? Touch or touch? "Wipe" or "wipe"? The alternation of vowels in the roots of verbs in the Russian language has always been a problem not only for foreigners, but also for Russian-speakers who dream of writing correctly. In fact, each such case should be considered individually: often the spelling depends on the suffix "a" present or absent in the word, so this rule can be considered basic, but not explaining absolutely all complex cases. Why, for example, "growth", but "growing up"? "Grow" but "grown"? “A” or “O”?
When is "A" written?
The letter "A" in words derived from the noun "growth" is written in the following cases:
- If the alternation of consonants in the root of the word leads to the formation of a new root: "rust". The presence of the letter "T" determines whether it is written in the word "A" or "O". That is: has grown, but will grow; has grown, but will grow.
- If the root of the word changes to "grove": grow, grown, grown.
Both cases are equally common and do not obey any intuitive algorithm. They should be memorized.
When is "O" written?
The spelling of the letter "O" in the root of the word with a grammatical basis, derived from the noun "growth", is easy to remember, because the rule is only one:
- The letter "O" is written in words with the root "grew": grown, grown, grown, grown.
Knowing this rule and the spelling of the letter “A”, one can confidently answer the question of how it is spelled: “grows” or “grows”. Since the root of the word in this case is “rust”, it contains the letter “T”, you should write this: it grows. This is the only correct option.
Exceptions to the Rules
This rule, like probably any rule in the Russian grammar, has a whole list of exceptions. It is also necessary to memorize it in order to always correctly determine the grammatical correct variant in dilemmas such as "Growing or growing?" or "Grown or grown?" These exceptions are:
- Height.
- Sprout.
- Rostov.
- Moneylender.
- Industry.
The category of exceptions also includes all forms of the listed words, as well as words formed from them. So, for example, from the word "industry" you can form the words "industry" and "sub-industry", which, contrary to the spelling rule of the vowel "O" in the root "grew", will be written through "A".
Another example of a group of words formed from exceptions is "sprout". From it you can form such commonly used nouns as "teenager", "process", "process" and many others. All of them, as well as the main exception, will be written through "O".
How easy is it to learn the rules?
For readers interested in writing correctly, a question has probably arisen for a long time: is it really necessary to interrupt and think every time before you write something, “grows” or “grows”? To their relief, no, I don’t have to. Here are some ways to quickly remember the rules and choose the right option on the machine:
- Compose examples of sentences with exceptions and words that obey the rules. At least one sentence for each rule will suffice, but an ideal option would be at least three to four.
- Look for confirmation of the rule in journalistic or fiction. At the same time, it’s not at all necessary to look for some special examples, just read your favorite book or news feed. Words with the root “growth / growth / growth” are popular enough to meet them in almost any field, in any genre.
- If you cannot remember which root which vowel requires, you can choose one simple example for each case and learn them. For example: we grow, grow, grew. A simple associative series is much easier to remember than the rule.
Following these simple rules and advice, hardly anyone will ever again confuse "growing" or "growing."