become + past participle

[licinio]

Can I say The city has become inhabited by lots of migrant workers from other parts of the country?

Thanks.

[M.Andrew]

Sure, that's ok.

Just a note about your title, "become + past participle"

It seems like you may be establishing a rule that would lead to poor and incorrect usage, like:

The apple has become eaten. (bad)

The paper has become edited. (worse)

The guests have become arrived. (awful)

This structure should more properly be entitled, "become + adjective"

Regarding the example you gave: Inhabited may be a past tense verb, a past participle, or an adjective.

Past tense verb: People inhabited the island in 2008.

Past participle: People have inhabited the island this week.

Adjective: I visited an inhabited island.

The reason why "inhabited" works in the example you provided is because it is an adjective.

The city has become inhabited.

Like: The city has become large.

Like: The city has become popular.

It is not true that you can use any participle with become. I hope this is clear.

[licinio]

Thanks for the answer and for the point you make.
I agree my title runs the risk of establishing a false rule, however I'm not totally convinced about "inhabited" being an adjective, because in my sentence it is followed by an agent which is typically used in the passive voice after a past participle.
Anyway, there should be an explanation that accounts for which adjectives and participle are allowed after become in this construction.
For the time being, I'll just try to absorb correct usage!
Cheers,
Andrea

[M.Andrew]

I have become interested in the discussion.