ABSTRACT.Control of microstructure during processing is necessary to produce materials with optimum properties. Grain growth behaviour in both two-phase (solid/liquid) and single phase materials is strongly dependant on interface structure, either rough (atomically disordered) or faceted (atomically ordered). Materials with disordered interfaces show normal grain growth behaviour, whereas materials with ordered interfaces can show different types of non-normal grain growth, which are system and timedependant: pseudo-normal, abnormal, stagnant and delayed abnormal. Examples of the different types of grain growth are given from ceramic and metallic systems, and general principles of microstructure evolution with respect to interface structure are presented.