Page 137 - Practical English Usage 3ed - Michael Swan, Oxford

changes: become. get. go. grow. etc 128
Grow + Infinitive can be used (like come + infinitive) to talk about changes in attitude, especially if these are gradual.
He grew to accept his stepmother, but he never grew to love her.
7 turn red etc
Turn is used mostly for visible or striking changes of state. It is common before colour words (and is not so informal as go).
She turned bright red and ran out of the room.
He tums nasty after he's had a couple ofdrinks.
We can use turn before numbers to talk about important changes of age.
I turned fifty last week. It's all downhill from now on. Turn into is used before nouns.
He's a lovely man, but when he gets jealous he tums into a monster.
A girl has to kiss a lot offrogs before one of them tums into a prince. Turn to and turn into can both be used before the names of materials.
Everything that King Midas touched turned (in)to gold.
They stood there as if they had been turned (in)to stone.
To talk about a change of occupation, religion, politics etc, we sometimes use turn with a noun (with no preposition or article) or an adjective.
He worked in a bank for thirty years before turning painter. Towards the end ofthe war he turned traitor.
At the end of her life she turned Catholic.
Turn (in)to can also be used to talk about changing one thing into another.
In the Greek legend, Circe turned men into pigs.
8 fall ill etc
Fall is used to mean 'become' in fall ill, fall asleep and fall in love.
9 verbs related to adjectives: thicken, brighten etc
A number of verbs which are related to adjectives have meanings like 'get more .. .' or 'make more .. .'. Many of them end in -en. Examples:
The fog thickened. They're widening the road here. The weather's beginning to brighten up. His eyes narrowed.
Could you shorten the sleeves on this jacket?
10 no change: stay, keep, remain
To talk about things not changing, we can use stay, keep or remain before adjectives. Remain is more formal.
How do you manage to stay young and fit? Keep calm.
I hope you will always remain so charming.
Stay and remain are also sometimes used before noun phrases.
Promise me you will always stay/remain my little boy. Keep can be used before -ing forms.
Keep smiling whatever happens.
For other uses of the words discussed in this section. see a good dictionary.
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