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J'ai grandi dans une petite ville.

J'ai grandi dans une petite ville.
I grew up in a small town.
From Lesson 215:The body and appearance·French

Questions & Answers about J'ai grandi dans une petite ville.

Why do we use dans here instead of à for a town?
You use à with the specific name of a city or town (like à Paris). But when you use the general word ville accompanied by an article (like une or la), you use dans to say you are "in" or "inside" that town.
Why does grandir use avoir in the passé composé instead of être?
Many verbs that describe a change of state (like naître or devenir) use être in the passé composé. However, grandir is an exception to that pattern and always takes avoir, which is why it is J'ai grandi.
Can I use grandir to say I "grew" tomatoes or "grew" my business?
No, grandir is intransitive, meaning it doesn't take a direct object. It is used when a person or thing physically gets bigger or matures on its own. For growing plants, you use cultiver, and for growing a business, you use développer.
Why is petite placed before ville?
While most French adjectives are placed after the noun, short and common adjectives that describe Beauty, Age, Goodness, and Size usually go before the noun. Since petite describes size, it comes before ville.

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