Diventare vs Farsi: Become

English uses become as a tidy single verb that handles every kind of change: to become a doctor, to become tired, to become rich, to become dark. Italian distributes the work across two verbs that overlap but aren't interchangeable: diventare, the standard, neutral verb for any kind of change-of-state, and farsi, a colloquial reflexive that adds a flavor of gradualness, physical or environmental transformation, or unfolding process. È diventato medico is the default way to say someone became a doctor; si è fatto medico also exists but sounds more like "he made himself into a doctor" — same meaning, different framing. Si fa buio (it's getting dark) is one of the most idiomatic phrases in Italian; diventa buio is grammatical but sounds artificial.

The distinction maps onto two questions: how rigid is the change? (diventare for sharp identity shifts, farsi for unfolding processes) and what's the register? (diventare neutral, farsi colloquial and idiomatic). This page lays out when each fits and where they overlap.

The one-sentence rule

Diventare is the default for any change of state — neutral, clean, works in every register. Farsi is a colloquial reflexive used for gradual physical, environmental, or personal transformations — si fa buio, si fa tardi, si è fatto grande, si fa freddo. When in doubt, use diventare; reach for farsi when the meaning is "is gradually turning / is becoming X over time."

Use 1 — Diventare for sharp identity changes

The core use of diventare: marking a definitive change to a new identity, profession, role, or state. The change is presented as relatively sharp — you weren't X before, now you are.

The key features of diventare:

• Auxiliary is essere in compound tenses (it's an intransitive change-of-state verb).
• The participle agrees with the subject in gender and number: è diventato medico (m.), è diventata medico (f.), sono diventati medici (m.pl.), sono diventate famose (f.pl.).
• No reflexive pronoun — this is a plain intransitive verb.
• Stylistically neutral — fits every register from casual chat to formal writing.

For the full conjugation, see Divenire / Diventare: Full Conjugation. (Divenire is the formal/literary equivalent of diventare, used in elevated writing — same syntax, different register.)

Use 2 — Diventare with adjectives = change in quality

Diventare also takes adjective complements to mark a change in characteristic or state.

The adjective agrees with the subject — fredda with l'acqua (f.sg.), impraticabili with le strade (f.pl.), paziente invariable in -e. Diventare works exactly like a copular verb here: subject + diventare + adjective, with the adjective agreeing.

Use 3 — Farsi for unfolding processes

Farsi is a reflexive use of fare (literally "to make oneself") that has crystallized into a verb of becoming. It carries a flavor of gradualness — the change is unfolding, not snapping into place. The most common contexts are environmental (weather, time of day, light) and personal physical change (growing up, getting old).

Weather and environment

These constructions are highly idiomatic — Italians use them constantly and they have no clean single-verb equivalent in English. Note the third-person singular impersonal pattern: si fa (it makes itself) for ongoing change, si è fatto in compound tenses. The auxiliary is essere, like all reflexives, and the past participle is invariable in this impersonal use (or agrees with a feminine equivalent: si è fatta sera, with sera sometimes triggering feminine agreement).

Personal physical and emotional change

The personal-change use of farsi often has a slightly informal, conversational tone. Si è fatto grande and diventato grande both mean "he's grown up," but si è fatto feels more like something a relative would say at a family gathering, while diventato is more neutral and would also work in writing.

When the two verbs overlap

For most personal changes, both verbs are possible and the difference is one of register and feel rather than meaning.

The pattern that emerges: for environmental/weather change, farsi dominates — si fa buio, si fa freddo, si fa tardi are the natural forms, and diventa in these contexts sounds wrong or stilted. For sharp identity change (profession, role), diventare dominates — è diventato medico is the default, si è fatto medico exists but feels archaic or specific (you might hear "si è fatto prete" for someone who became a priest, with a flavor of "joined the priesthood"). For gradual personal change, both work, with farsi giving a more conversational, family-table tone.

A critical insight: farsi has other meanings too

Don't confuse the "become" use of farsi with its other major uses, which can produce false positives in your reading.

Farsi = to have something done to oneself

This is the causative reflexive — farsi + infinitive meaning "to have something done to oneself." It's a different construction entirely from farsi + adjective meaning "to become."

Farsi = drug slang

This is contemporary slang, mainly youth speech and journalism about drug culture. Don't confuse with the "become" or "have done to oneself" uses.

Farsi avanti, farsi sentire — fixed expressions

These are fixed idiomatic expressions where farsi combines with an adverb or adjective in a non-becoming sense.

The Italian process verb landscape

Diventare and farsi are the two main "become" verbs, but Italian has several others that occupy related territory and you should recognize:

• Divenire (formal/literary) — same meaning as diventare, but reserved for elevated writing. È divenuto un'icona del Novecento (he became an icon of the 20th century — formal). In speech, almost nobody says divenire; in literary or academic prose, it appears regularly.
• Trasformarsi (in) — to transform, undergo a more dramatic or qualitative change. La città si è trasformata negli ultimi vent'anni (the city has transformed in the last twenty years).
• Cambiare — to change. Often paired with adverbs to describe how. È cambiato molto da quando l'ho conosciuto (he's changed a lot since I met him).
• Convertirsi (a / in) — to convert (religion or fundamental orientation). Si è convertito al buddismo (he converted to Buddhism).
• Andare a finire (X) — to end up (X). È andato a finire male (he ended up badly).

For the cleanest learner mental model, treat diventare as your default become and add farsi for the idiomatic environmental/personal-change cases. The other verbs above are specialized — they fill smaller niches.

A subtle pattern: ongoing process with stare diventando

For a process that is currently underway — "is becoming" — Italian uses stare diventando (the progressive of diventare) or simply diventa / si fa. The progressive marks the process as in motion right now.

The progressive sta diventando is fully neutral and works for any unfolding change. It overlaps with si fa in the environmental cases but is much more common for personal or societal change.

Auxiliary check: both verbs take essere

Both diventare and farsi take essere as their auxiliary in compound tenses. For diventare, this is because it's a change-of-state intransitive (the same class as andare, venire, nascere, morire). For farsi, it's because it's reflexive — every reflexive in Italian takes essere.

The participle agreement follows the standard rules: with diventare, the participle agrees with the subject (since essere is the auxiliary); with farsi, the participle also agrees with the subject (since reflexives behave like essere intransitives for agreement). Si è fatta sera (the evening came on, with sera triggering feminine agreement); si sono fatti grandi (they've grown up — masculine plural).

Register snapshot

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

Three things to internalize:

1. Default to diventare. It is the neutral, all-purpose verb for "become" in Italian. Works for identity changes (became a doctor), state changes (became tired, became famous), and quality changes (became fashionable). Auxiliary is essere; participle agrees with the subject.

2. Reach for farsi for unfolding processes — especially environmental/weather (si fa buio, si fa tardi, si fa freddo) and gradual personal change (si è fatto grande, si fa vecchio). The flavor is conversational and gradual, not sharp.

3. Don't confuse farsi-become with farsi-causative. Mi sono fatta tagliare i capelli is "I had my hair cut," not "I became cut hair." When farsi is followed by an infinitive, it's the causative reflexive — a different construction entirely.

For the full conjugation of both diventare and the formal twin divenire, see Divenire / Diventare: Full Conjugation. For the broader landscape of copular verbs in Italian — essere, stare, diventare, sembrare, parere, restare, rimanere — see Copulative Verbs.