Я вырос в этом городе.

I

Breakdown of Я вырос в этом городе.

• в: in
• город: the city
• этот: this

Questions & Answers about Я вырос в этом городе.

Why is the verb вырос used here instead of рос?

Because вырос is the past tense of вырасти, which is a perfective verb. In this sentence, it means grew up as a completed life fact: the speaker spent their childhood in that city and reached adulthood there.

By contrast, рос is from расти, the imperfective verb, and focuses more on the process of growing rather than the completed result.

So:

• Я вырос в этом городе. = I grew up in this city.
• Я рос в этом городе. = I was growing up in this city / I spent my childhood growing up in this city.

Both can be possible in some contexts, but вырос is the more natural choice for a simple statement about where someone grew up.

What is the dictionary form of вырос?

The dictionary form is вырасти.

Here is the pattern:

• вырасти = to grow up / to grow
• я вырос = I grew up / I grew

This past tense form is irregular enough that it is worth memorizing:

• masculine: вырос
• feminine: выросла
• neuter: выросло
• plural: выросли

So if a woman is speaking, she would say:

• Я выросла в этом городе.