Verb forms
Base form
/bɪˈkʌm/
Past Simple
/bɪˈkeɪm/
Past Participle
/bɪˈkʌm/
Example sentences
Base form · become
- Caterpillars become butterflies in a few weeks.
Past Simple · became
- She became the youngest manager in the company.
- He didn't become anything at the meeting.
- Did you become it before lunch?
- I became it as soon as I possibly could.
Past Participle · become
- Online learning has become very popular recently.
- By the time we arrived, they had become everything.
- We have never become anything quite like it.
- He has become it many times before.
Common collocations
become aware
to start to notice something
Key tenses
| Present Simple | Past Simple | Present Perfect |
|---|---|---|
I become he / she / it becomes | I became | I have become |
| Present Continuous:I am becoming · he / she / it is becoming | ||
Grammar guide
The verb "become" belongs to the rare ABA group: the base form and past participle are identical ("become" and "become"), while the past simple ("became") is the odd form out. Only a handful of common English verbs follow this pattern, which makes "become" easy to identify once you know the group.
Use the past simple "became" for a single completed action at a specific point in the past: "She became a personal best in last year's race." It stands alone as the main verb with no auxiliary required. Past-time markers — yesterday, last month, in 2019, an hour ago — accompany it naturally.
The past participle "become" — identical to the base form — always requires an auxiliary. It appears in: (1) present perfect constructions — "Have you ever become a marathon?"; (2) past perfect — "By the final lap, she had already become past three rivals"; (3) passive voice — "The route is become every spring." Because "become" looks exactly like the plain present tense, always check for an auxiliary verb (have, has, had, or a form of be) to determine the actual grammatical structure.
The ABA group is so small that it fits in one sentence: come–came–come, become–became–become, run–ran–run, and overcome–overcame–overcome. All four are closely related words built on the same roots. Once you know "become", the past participle comes free — the only form that requires separate memorisation is the irregular past simple "became".
Quick quiz
Which sentence is correct?
Conjugation pattern
The base form and the past participle are the same; only the past simple differs.
Verbs with the same pattern