Croître vs. grandir vs. augmenter vs. pousser
The French verbs croître, grandir, augmenter, and pousser can all be translated as to grow or to become larger in English, but they are used in very distinctly different contexts. The choice of word depends entirely on whether you are talking about human development, plant life, numerical values, or formal abstract concepts.
Croître
C1The verb croître is a formal and slightly literary word used to describe something that naturally increases in size, quantity, or intensity over time, such as an economy, a population, or a feeling.
La population mondiale continue de croître.
(The global population continues to grow.)
Son intérêt pour l'histoire ancienne ne cesse de croître.
(His interest in ancient history never stops growing.)
L'économie a crû de deux pour cent cette année.
(The economy grew by two percent this year.)
Les ombres commencent à croître avec le déclin du soleil.
(The shadows begin to grow with the setting of the sun.)
Le sentiment d'insécurité croît dans ce quartier.
(The feeling of insecurity is growing in this neighborhood.)
Grandir
A2The verb grandir is primarily used to talk about physical growth in height or size, especially for living beings like children and animals, as well as the process of maturing or a business expanding.
Les enfants grandissent si vite de nos jours.
(Children grow up so fast these days.)
Cette petite entreprise a beaucoup grandi depuis sa création.
(This small business has grown a lot since its creation.)
Il a grandi dans une ville de province.
(He grew up in a provincial town.)
Ce chiot va grandir pour devenir un gros chien.
(This puppy will grow to become a large dog.)
Les difficultés l'ont fait grandir plus vite.
(The difficulties made her grow up faster.)
Augmenter
B1The verb augmenter means to increase and is used strictly for measurable quantities, values, numbers, prices, or statistics, rather than physical biological growth.
Le prix de la farine va encore augmenter demain.
(The price of flour will grow again tomorrow.)
Son salaire a augmenté après son excellente évaluation annuelle.
(Her salary increased after her excellent annual review.)
Le nombre d'inscriptions augmente chaque année.
(The number of enrollments grows every year.)
Nous devons augmenter notre production pour répondre à la demande.
(We must increase our production to meet the demand.)
La température a considérablement augmenté cet après-midi.
(The temperature grew considerably this afternoon.)
Pousser
A2The verb pousser means to grow when referring to things that sprout or emerge, specifically plants, flowers, trees, hair, beards, teeth, and nails.
Les tomates poussent bien dans ce jardin ensoleillé.
(Tomatoes grow well in this sunny garden.)
Ses cheveux ont beaucoup poussé pendant les vacances d'été.
(Her hair grew a lot during the summer holidays.)
Les premières dents du bébé commencent enfin à pousser.
(The baby's first teeth are finally starting to grow.)
De mauvaises herbes poussent entre les dalles de la terrasse.
(Weeds are growing between the paving stones of the patio.)
Il laisse pousser sa barbe pour se protéger du froid hivernal.
(He is letting his beard grow to protect himself from the winter cold.)
Summary
To summarize, use grandir for humans and animals getting physically taller or maturing, pousser for plants and body parts like hair or nails sprouting, augmenter for numbers, prices, and volumes increasing, and the formal croître for a gradual increase in intensity, abstract concepts, or demographics.