"to become" in seven languages
Meaningto become
Spanish
/bolˈbeɾse/
other source · volver 'to turn' (Latin VOLVERE) + se
No single verb: ponerse for moods (se puso rojo), volverse for lasting change (se volvió loco), hacerse with effort (se hizo rico), convertirse en.
French
/dəvəniʁ/
inherited
Takes être: il est devenu.
Italian
/divenˈtare/
inherited
Through Late Latin *DĒVENTĀRE; divenire is the literary form. Takes essere.
Portuguese
/toɾˈnahsi/
other source · tornar 'to turn' (Latin TORNĀRE)
Also ficar for a change of state: ficou triste.
Romanian
/deveˈni/
borrowed · French devenir
Catalan
/tuɾˈnasə/
other source · tornar 'to turn' (Latin TORNĀRE)
Formal esdevenir is the twin of devenir.
English
/bɪˈkʌm/
native English · Old English becuman 'to arrive, happen'
The Latin ancestor
DĒVENĪRE‘to come down to, arrive at’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
French and Italian 'come down to' a new state (DĒVENĪRE); Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan 'turn' into it (volverse, tornar-se), and Spanish chooses among several verbs by the kind of change. Romanian deveni came back from French.
English relatives: venue, advent
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In a sentence
- esSe ha vuelto muy serio.
- frIl est devenu très sérieux.
- itÈ diventato molto serio.
- ptEle se tornou muito sério.
- roA devenit foarte serios.
- caS'ha tornat molt seriós.
- enHe has become very serious.