Breakdown of Antes era simpática, pero ahora se ha vuelto muy egoísta.
ser
to be
muy
very
pero
but
simpático
nice
ahora
now
haber
to have (auxiliary)
antes
before
volverse
to become (character change)
egoísta
selfish
Questions & Answers about Antes era simpática, pero ahora se ha vuelto muy egoísta.
Why do we use se ha vuelto here instead of another verb of change like se ha puesto?
Why is it vuelto instead of "volvido"?
Vuelto is the irregular past participle of volver (and therefore volverse). It is a very common irregularity to memorize because it does not follow the standard -ido ending rules for -er verbs!
If this sentence were about a man, would egoísta change to "egoísto"?
No, it would stay exactly the same. Adjectives ending in -ista (like egoísta, optimista, or pesimista) are used for both masculine and feminine subjects. You would change simpática to simpático for a man, but egoísta would remain the same.
Why is the first verb in the imperfect tense (era) but the second is in the present perfect (se ha vuelto)?
The imperfect era is used to describe a background state or how she "used to be" over an undefined period in the past. The present perfect se ha vuelto is used because the action of "becoming" has a direct, visible result in the present moment (ahora).
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