get or become free

[Untaught88]

Hi,

Which verb should I use?

"Why did you become/get free so early today?"

 

[emsr2d2]

Neither one works. The main problem is that such a sentence is more likely to start with "How".

Are you trying to say "Why are you free so early today?"

 

[Untaught88]

No, I am not trying to say that. If one gets free at 10 am after doing household chores and at 4 pm, we talk over the phone. She tells me that she becomes free at 10 am. I ask "Why did you become free so early today? You had nothing else to do."

 

[emsr2d2]

No, I am not trying to say that. [STRIKE]If[/STRIKE] Imagine that someone [STRIKE]gets[/STRIKE] becomes free at 10 am after doing household chores and at 4 pm, we talk over the phone. She tells me that she [STRIKE]becomes[/STRIKE] became free at 10 am. I ask "Why [STRIKE]did you become[/STRIKE] were you free so early today? [STRIKE]You had nothing[/STRIKE] Didn't you have anything else to do?"

See above.

 

[Untaught88]

Does that mean I shouldn't use "become free" in interrogative sentence

 

[emsr2d2]

I can't say that it's grammatically incorrect but using "become free" at all sounds unnatural to me.

When will you be free?
What time will you be free?
Will you be free after 11am?

You don't really become free. As soon as you've finished doing whatever it was you were doing, if you have nothing else to do afterwards, you're free.

 

[lupicatulum]

I can't say that it's grammatically incorrect but using "become free" at all sounds unnatural to me.

When will you be free?
What time will you be free?
Will you be free after 11am?

You don't really become free. As soon as you've finished doing whatever it was you were doing, if you have nothing else to do afterwards, you're free.

Untaught is wondering WHY is she free already. He/she's maybe even a little bit suspicious how come that someone's free so early. So correct and natural question would probably sound "Why were you free so early today", as you corrected his sentence above.

 

[emsr2d2]

In order to indicate that you agreed with my correction to "Why were you free so early today?", it would have been better to simply click the "Like" button on my post. That's the best way to indicate your agreement with someone else's advice on the forum. There's no need to write a new post.