grow apart: meaning and explanation
The phrasal verb grow apart is used to describe how two people (friends, relatives, a couple) gradually become less close to each other over time.
This phrasal verb is used when a relationship change happens slowly, resulting from one or both of the people changing in some way.
For example - imagine childhood friends who are very close through primary and secondary school. If one of the friends goes off to university while the other stays in their home town, then they would probably become more different to each other over time, with different interests, experiences and relationships. Gradually, their relationship would become less close - they would grow apart.
Here are some examples of this phrasal verb in context:
About the sentence
...we used to be inseparable...
When two people are very close and spend a lot of time together, we can describe them as inseparable.
e.g. I grew up on the same street as my cousin, and we were pretty much inseparable.
And here's another example from a discussion about friendship (Australian accent):
Extra practice
Here are some questions/links to help you learn the new vocabulary:
- Do you have an experience of growing apart from someone? What happened, and how do you feel about it now?
- In your opinion, what are the most common reasons people grow apart over time?
- Have you ever recovered a relationship with someone after growing apart? What happened?
- Is it possible to have a long distance relationship without growing apart?
Photo by Francesco Gallarotti on Unsplash
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