How do you say become in Spanish?

It depends on the change: ponerse for a passing state (se puso nervioso), volverse for a change in what someone is like (se volvió serio), hacerse for a role or belief (se hizo médico), convertirse en for a transformation (se convirtió en un problema), quedarse for the state an event leaves (se quedó ciego).

What is the difference between ponerse and volverse?

Ponerse is a passing state, often sudden — se puso rojo, se puso triste. Volverse is a change in someone's nature that lasts — se volvió desconfiado, se volvió loco.

When do you use hacerse?

For a change someone takes on, often by effort: a profession (se hizo profesora), a belief (se hizo budista), a status (se hizo rico), a relationship (se hicieron amigos).

Is it convertirse or convertirse en?

Convertirse en, always with en, before a noun: el agua se convirtió en hielo, el viaje se convirtió en una aventura.

How do you say to get nervous or to get sick in Spanish?

With ponerse: ponerse nervioso, ponerse malo or ponerse enfermo. Many feelings also have a verb of their own with se — enfadarse, cansarse, aburrirse — which say the same change in one word.

Ponerse, Volverse or Hacerse? Become in Spanish

Q: How do you say to go blind or to go deaf in Spanish?

With quedarse: quedarse ciego, quedarse sordo. Quedarse names the state an event leaves behind, as in quedarse viudo or quedarse sin trabajo.

Ponerse, volverse, hacerse… The chart

English uses become, get, go and turn more or less interchangeably — he got angry, she went blind, it turned cold. Spanish chooses the verb by what kind of change it is, so one English word can need four different Spanish ones.

The quickest test: is it a mood or a look that passes (ponerse)? A change in someone's character or nature (volverse)? A role someone takes on (hacerse)? Something turning into something else (convertirse en)? The state an event leaves behind (quedarse)?

Spanish	The change, and an example
ponerse + adjective	A passing state, often sudden: se puso rojo — he went red.
volverse + adjective	What someone is like, lasting: se volvió muy desconfiado — he became very distrustful.
hacerse + noun	A role taken on, a job or a belief: se hizo médica — she became a doctor.
convertirse en + noun	Turning into something else: la piedra se convirtió en polvo — the stone turned to dust.
quedarse + adjective	The state an event leaves behind: se quedó ciego — he went blind.
llegar a ser + noun	The top of a long road: llegó a ser directora — she went on to become director.

Each is a different kind of change. From the academies' Diccionario de la lengua española (poner, 33; volver, 5.b; hacer, 48–49; convertir, 1.a; quedar, 1.b; llegar, 4). Checked 3 November 2026.

Ponerse: a passing state

Ponerse marks the change into a state, the kind estar describes once it has happened: se puso nervioso, and now está nervioso. That is the link to remember — if the result would take estar, the change usually takes ponerse.

Spanish	English
Se puso nervioso antes del examen.	He got nervous before the exam.
Me pongo rojo cuando hablo en público.	I go red when I speak in public.
Se puso muy contenta con la noticia.	She was thrilled at the news.
Si comes eso, te vas a poner malo.	If you eat that, you'll get sick.
El cielo se puso gris.	The sky turned gray.

Ponerse + adjective: the moods, colors and states that come and go. From the Diccionario de la lengua española (poner, 33: ponerse pálido). Checked 3 November 2026.

Volverse or hacerse? A change in who someone is

Volverse is a change that comes over someone or something, usually lasting and often not chosen: se volvió loco, se volvió desconfiado, la situación se volvió insostenible. Hacerse is a change someone takes on — a job, a belief, a status, often by effort: se hizo médica, se hizo budista, se hizo rico.

Some words take both with only a shade of difference — se hizo famoso and se volvió famoso — and the dictionary allows convertirse en médico beside hacerse médico. Neither choice is wrong there, so the quiz never asks you to pick between them.

Spanish	English
Se volvió muy reservado después del divorcio.	He became very reserved after the divorce.
Con los años se ha vuelto más tolerante.	She has become more tolerant over the years.
La situación se volvió insostenible.	The situation became unbearable.
Se hizo abogada a los veinticinco años.	She became a lawyer at twenty-five.
Se hicieron amigos en la universidad.	They became friends at university.
Se hizo vegetariano.	He became a vegetarian.

Volverse for a change that comes over someone; hacerse for one they take on. From the Diccionario de la lengua española (volver, 5.b; hacer, 49). Checked 3 November 2026.

Convertirse en, quedarse and llegar a ser

Convertirse always takes en and a noun: se convirtió en una pesadilla, never se convirtió una pesadilla. It is the safe choice for a transformation into something else, and it works for people too — se convirtió en el mejor jugador del equipo.

Quedarse names the state an event leaves behind, often a loss: se quedó ciego, se quedó viudo, se quedó sin palabras. Llegar a ser stresses the long road to the top: llegó a ser directora.

Spanish	English
Ir a trabajar se convirtió en una pesadilla.	Going to work became a nightmare.
El pueblo se convirtió en un destino turístico.	The village turned into a tourist destination.
Mi abuelo se quedó sordo.	My grandfather went deaf.
Se quedó sin trabajo.	He lost his job (was left without one).
Llegó a ser directora del hospital.	She went on to become director of the hospital.

Three more ways to say become, each with its own job. From the Diccionario de la lengua española (convertir, 1.a; quedar, 1.b; llegar, 4). Checked 3 November 2026.

Why do English speakers mix them up?

Because English has one verb that covers them all — become, get, go, turn — and the first Spanish one a dictionary offers rarely fits every case. The slips follow: se volvió rojo for se puso rojo, se convirtió médico without en, and estar where a change is meant — estuvo nervioso for se puso nervioso.

There is no first-party error rate on this page yet: our mistake tagger counts ser vs estar, por vs para, the tenses and the object pronouns, not verbs of change. When it does, the number will sit here. Until then the quiz is the measure.

What comes after ponerse?

Ser vs estar is the pair underneath: ponerse leads to estar (se puso nervioso, está nervioso), volverse and hacerse often to ser. Hace vs desde hace is the other everyday idea English says with one word: for. Verbs like gustar are the next verbs built the other way round from English. Reflexive verbs has the pronoun these three carry — me puse, te volviste — and where it goes. The free Spanish level test places you on the A1–C2 scale in five minutes; B1 vs B2 Spanish says what changes in the middle levels.

Ponerse, volverse or hacerse? How to say become in Spanish

Ponerse, volverse or hacerse? Ten sentences, instant answers