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# become

«become» in Mova's school dictionary: **to start to be something** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (become, becomes, became, becoming; past participle become)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To become is to start to be something. A seed becomes a plant. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/become/#m1)

2) To become is to change into something new over time, like a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/become/#m2)

3) Something becomes you if it looks nice on you (old-fashioned: «that dress becomes you»). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/become/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

marks the new amount after a change: «the number becomes 20»; often after a change, ask what the start was; in science: water becomes ice when it freezes, tadpoles become frogs; in stories: a frog becomes a prince; in everyday life: «become friends», «become tired», «become a doctor when I grow up»

### examples

- After he gave away 5, his marbles became 12. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/become/#x1)
- The price became $8. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/become/#x2)
- The tadpoles become frogs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/become/#x3)
- How many did it become? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/become/#x4)
- Water becomes ice at 0 degrees Celsius. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/become/#x5)
- I want to become a vet when I grow up. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/become/#x6)
- The two girls became best friends. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/become/#x7)
- The sky became dark and it started to rain. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/become/#x8)
- A caterpillar becomes a butterfly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/become/#x9)
- It will soon become like ice. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/become/#x10)

### note

It points to the result of a change. Trap: if you know the result and the change, undo the change to find the start (gave away 5, became 12 → started with 17). Irregular: become, became, (has) become. Not «becomed».

### In the corpora

- [Debt becomes a problem when the repayments are more than the family can afford.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/8-borrowing-and-debt/3/)
- [The children of a parent's partner can become your step-siblings: brothers or sisters through marriage, not by birth.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/13/)
- ["When the fun stops, stop" is a warning betting adverts must include, because gambling can become an addiction.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/28-smoking-vaping-and-betting/15/)
- [If a "We'll see" matters to you, ask calmly what would need to change for it to become a yes.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/37-sorry-white-lies-and-because-i-said-so/15/)
- [Before passing a story on, check it: a small nip can become a horror story in three tellings.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/41-our-street-who-parked-where-and-who-won-what/28/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «become» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/become/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.