Question 1

Why do we use hacerse (se ha hecho) here to mean 'become'?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, hacerse is the standard verb of change for things you actively choose to become, like a profession, a religion, or a political ideology. Since becoming conservative is a voluntary change in beliefs, we use hacerse rather than verbs like ponerse (for temporary physical or emotional states) or volverse (for deep, involuntary personality changes).

Question 2

Since the subject is a man (indicated by conservador), why is he a socialista and not a socialisto?

Accepted Answer

Words ending in -ista that describe professions or political beliefs are exactly the same for both men and women. You would use context or change the article to show gender (for example, el socialista vs la socialista), but the word itself never changes to end in -o.

Question 3

Why use the imperfect tense (era) for the first part but the present perfect (se ha hecho) for the second?

Accepted Answer

The imperfect era describes an ongoing background state in the past (how he used to be over a period of time). The present perfect se ha hecho describes an action (the change in ideology) that is complete but has a direct, relevant result in the present (he is conservative now).

Question 4

Since era can also mean 'I was', could the beginning of this sentence mean 'When I was young I was a socialist'?

Accepted Answer

If you only looked at the first half, yes! But the second half of the sentence uses se ha hecho (he/she/it/you-formal has become) instead of me he hecho (I have become). Because the whole sentence must share the same subject, we know the first part must mean 'When he was young'.

Cuando era joven era socialista, pero se ha hecho conservador.

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