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Dima
I became vs I've become
Why is it 'I became a teacher' but not 'I've become a teacher'?
It is a finished action that has an influence on the present so you need to use Present Perfect Simple, don't you?Source sentence "At first I wanted to be a doctor but I became an English teacher."
Jan 22, 2015 8:31 PM
Answers · 10
2
The beginning of the sentence gives us a clue: "At first I wanted..."
The sentence starts in past tense, so you stay in past tense. It's irrelevant whether you are a teacher now or not. To use present perfect, you need to indicate a change in timeframes (you can simply add "now" into the sentence).
January 22, 2015
1
The action of becoming a teacher itself impacts on the present and future only immediately after the fact. So you could sat 'I have become a teacher' after graduating. When you are looking back on the action of becoming a teacher from the future, it becomes a past action. Being a teacher is a continuous action, not the act of becoming the teacher.
January 22, 2015
At first I wanted to be a doctor but I became an English teacher.
January 22, 2015
We can't tell what tense was meant to be used without knowing the context. It would be helpful if you included the paragraph you saw this in.
January 22, 2015
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Dima
Language Skills
English, Polish, Russian
Learning Language
English, Polish
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