Los verbos que significan “to become” Verbs that express “to become”

Verbs that express “to become” You can use the verbs hacerse, volverse, ponerse, convertirse en, quedarse, and llegar a ser to convey a change in state (to get or to become). The preterite is often used to talk about a particular change or reaction in the past.

Verbs that express “to become” Hacerse + adjective or noun describes a change where a personal effort is involved. Juan se hizo abogado. Juan became a lawyer.

Verbs that express “to become” Ponerse + adjective describes a sudden physical or mental change. Ana se puso triste cuando no pudo ir al concierto. Ana became sad when she couldn’t go to the concert.

Verbs that express “to become” Volverse + adjective can describe a more gradual change. Me estoy volviendo loca con esta computadora. I’m going crazy with this computer.

Verbs that express “to become” Convertirse en + noun expresses to change into or to turn into. La tienda familiar se convirtió en un almacén grande. The family store turned into a big department store.

Verbs that express “to become” Use quedarse + adjective in some idiomatic expressions and with certain adjectives such as ciego(a), sordo(a), and calvo(a) to express to be left, to wind up a certain way. Me quedé boquiabierta. I was left speechless.

Verbs that express “to become” Use llegar a ser + adjective or noun to express to become or to get to be after a series of events or after a long time. Por fin llegaron a ser buenas amigas. They finally got to be good friends. Era pobre, pero llegó a ser rico. He was poor but he became rich.