[Grammar] have been becoming?

[Heidi]

Dear teachers,

Does the sentence below sound natural to you? Is it grammatically correct to use 'become' in the present perfect prograssive tense? Thank you!

- Riding on an airplane has been becoming more and more safe over the years.

 

[Raymott]

Dear teachers,

Does the sentence below sound natural to you? Is it grammatically correct to use 'become' in the present perfect prograssive tense? Thank you!

- Riding on an airplane has been becoming more and more safe over the years.

Yes, it's good. However, "becoming safer" is better than "becoming more and more safe". Or, "It's becoming increasingly safe ..."
You can also say, "It's been getting safer to fly over recent years."

 

[emsr2d2]

Yes, it's good. However, "becoming safer" is better than "becoming more and more safe". Or, "It's becoming increasingly safe ..."
You can also say, "It's been getting safer to fly over recent years."

I agree with Raymott and I would add that simply saying "Flying..." would be more natural than "Riding on an airplane..."

 

[Heidi]

Thank you.

- Flying an airplane HAS been becoming safer over recent years.
I have a question about "have been becoming". My teacher at school says that "Jenny has been getting a cold for the last week" is incorrect. But I don't get it. Don't 'become' and 'get' both have the same meaning? Why is one correct while the other is incorrect?

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you.

- Flying an airplane HAS been becoming safer over recent years.
I have a question about "have been becoming". My teacher at school says that "Jenny has been getting a cold for the last week" is incorrect. But I don't get it. Don't 'become' and 'get' both have the same meaning? Why is one correct while the other is incorrect?

1. "Flying an airplane" is different from "flying on an airplane". "Flying an airplane" is what the pilot does. Hopefully, it's always safe for the pilot!

2. "To get a cold / to catch a cold" is the phrase we use for that particular illness. We don't "become" a cold. That suggests that you are changing your body from being a person to being a cold (obviously impossible!)

"To get" and "to become" are interchangeable when followed by an adjective:

I'm getting fat.
I'm becoming fat.

He's getting tired.
He's becoming tired.

It's getting cold.
It's becoming cold.

When followed by a noun, "to get" means "to obtain" or similar.

 

[Heidi]

1. "Flying an airplane" is different from "flying on an airplane". "Flying an airplane" is what the pilot does. Hopefully, it's always safe for the pilot!

2. "To get a cold / to catch a cold" is the phrase we use for that particular illness. We don't "become" a cold. That suggests that you are changing your body from being a person to being a cold (obviously impossible!)

"To get" and "to become" are interchangeable when followed by an adjective:

I'm getting fat.
I'm becoming fat.

He's getting tired.
He's becoming tired.

It's getting cold.
It's becoming cold.

When followed by a noun, "to get" means "to obtain" or similar.

But my teacher at school says that we should say "flying on an airplane HAS BECOME safer over the years", not 'has been becoming'. How come that is? I don't get it.

 

[5jj]

But my teacher at school says that we should say "flying on an airplane HAS BECOME safer over the years", not 'has been becoming'. How come that is? I don't get it.

Your teacher is giving a 'rule' that is generally sound; it is just not absolute.

 

[Tdol]

Mind you, if they said should, they're not laying down the law

 

[Heidi]

Dear teachers,

Would you please tell me whether the sentence below makes sense? If not, please tell me the reason. Thank you!

- Jenny has been becoming ill for the last week.

 

[5jj]

- Jenny has been becoming ill for the last week.

It makes sense only if Jenny is the sort of person who is always complaining about beginning to feel the first signs of impending illness.

 

[Heidi]

It makes sense only if Jenny is the sort of person who is always complaining about beginning to feel the first signs of impending illness.

What I've been trying to figure out these couple days is that 'become' to me seems to indicate an action which changes a situation or state, but after the situation or state has been changed, the action of 'become' ends. What can be lasted is that changed state.

So,I guess that the sentence 'the situation has been becoming worse over the last week' is suggesting the situation is repeatedly, continuously changing, it becomes and becomes and becomes worse many times. Am I right about this idea?

I would like to know whether it will be better/sensible to say "the situation has become worse over the last week"?

Thank you for your patience!

 

[SoothingDave]

What I've been trying to figure out these couple days is that 'become' to me seems to indicate an action which changes a situation or state, but after the situation or state has been changed, the action of 'become' ends. What can be lasted is that changed state.

So,I guess that the sentence 'the situation has been becoming worse over the last week' is suggesting the situation is repeatedly, continuously changing, it becomes and becomes and becomes worse many times. Am I right about this idea?

I would like to know whether it will be better/sensible to say "the situation has become worse over the last week"?

Thank you for your patience!

"Has been becoming" sounds awkward to me.

 

[emsr2d2]

"Has been becoming" sounds awkward to me.

It sounds a little awkward to me too, although I would certainly say "My cold has been getting worse all week" which does mean exactly the same thing as "My cold has been becoming worse all week".

 

[Heidi]

It sounds a little awkward to me too, although I would certainly say "My cold has been getting worse all week" which does mean exactly the same thing as "My cold has been becoming worse all week".

Do you agree "my cold has become worse all week" is more sensible/more appropriate than "my cold has been becoming worse all week"?

 

[5jj]

Do you agree "my cold has become worse all week" is more sensible/more appropriate than "my cold has been becoming worse all week"?

Actually, neither of them sounds very natural to me. emsr2d2's "My cold has been getting worse all week" is far more natural.

 

[Heidi]

Actually, neither of them sounds very natural to me. emsr2d2's "My cold has been getting worse all week" is far more natural.

Does "my cold is becoming increasingly worse all week" have a similar meaning as "my cold has been getting worse all week"?

 

[emsr2d2]

Does "my cold becomes increasingly worse all week" have similar meaning as "my cold has been getting worse all week"?

No. "My cold becomes..." makes it sound like a regular occurrence, as if you have a cold every week and every week it gets worse as the week goes on.

I also don't think that "My cold has become worse all week" sounds natural either. We might say "My cold has become worse in the last couple of days" - that would mean that I already had a cold at the beginning of the week (for example), it was at a certain level for a few days and then in the last couple of days it changed and got worse.

"My cold has been becoming/getting worse all week" means that it gradually but consantly got worse over the course of the week.

Let's say that you grade the severity of your cold on a scale of 1 to 10:

Day 1 of cold - 2
Day 2 of cold - 3
Day 3 of cold - 5
Day 4 of cold - 5.5
Day 5 of cold - 7
Day 6 of cold - 7.5
Today - 8

etc etc. It has got worse every day, even if only a little worse. Therefore, it was a progression which continued over the course of the last week, which would be verbalised as "My cold has been becoming worse over the last week".

 

[Heidi]

Can I say that "my cold has been becoming worse over the last week" is a situation which is possible, but "Jenny has been becoming ill for the last week" is impossible?

Does "my cold is becoming increasingly worse over the last week" have a similar meaning as "my cold has been getting worse over the last week"?

Thank you!

 

[emsr2d2]

Can I say that "my cold has been becoming worse over the last week" is a situation which is possible, but "Jenny has been becoming ill for the last week" is impossible?

Does "my cold is becoming increasingly worse over the last week" have a similar meaning as "my cold has been getting worse over the last week"?

Thank you!

"Jenny has been getting ill for the last week" is fine. Why do you think it's not?

With your second question, that's the second time that you've tried to use the present progressive followed by a period of time. We don't use "My cold is becoming worse" except as a standalone sentence.

My cold is becoming worse.
My cold became worse last week.
My cold has been getting worse over the last week.
My cold had been getting worse all week.
My cold was getting worse the colder the weather got.
My cold got worse after I stayed out in the rain all night.

Context is everything.

 

[Heidi]

"Jenny has been getting ill for the last week" is fine. Why do you think it's not?

It sounds(to me) like Jenny got ill and got ill and got ill many many times during the last week, which I don't think it makes sense. But maybe I was wrong, that's why I've been keeping asking in the last couple of days. Please tell me if my concept is correct?