'to turn' vs 'to become'

[jctgf]

hi there,

1) is it possible to use the verb "to turn" in the meaning of "to become"? for example, is the sentence "he wasn't a good child but turned (to be) a good man when got older" correct? if so, can I omit "to be"?

2) can I say "the traffic light became red"?

3) in this post, I used the expression "in the meaning of" in the first question. is it good English? should/could I say it differently?

thanks.

 

[susiedqq]

1) is it possible to use the verb "to turn" instead of "to become"? For example, is the sentence "he wasn't a good child but turned (to be) a good man when got older" correct? If so, can I omit "to be"? The expression "turned out" is used. He turned out to be a nice man after all.

2) can I say "the traffic light became red"? No; traffic lights turn green, then turn yellow, then turn red - or they change to red, etc.

3) in this post, I used the expression "in the meaning of" in the first question. is it good English? should/could I say it differently? See above.

 

[Offroad]

Become, get, go, come, grow and turn can all be used with similar meanings to talk about changes. The differences between them are complicated - they depend partly on grammar, partly on meaning and partly on fixed usage.

Have a look at this:

1) become dark, become a pilot.
It was becoming very dark.
What do I have to do to become a pilot?

2) get dark, younger
It was getting very dark.
You get younger every day.
They got married in 1986, and got divorced two years later.

3) Get + Infinitive
After a few weeks I got to like the job.
She's nice when you get to know her.

4) go red, go mad
Leaves go brown in autumn.
She went white with anger.
Suddenly everything went black and I lost consciousness.
Cheese goes mouldy.
Milk goes off.
Bread goes stale.
He went bald in his twenties.
The car keeps going wrong.

5) come true etc
Dreams come true.
It will all come right in the end.
I slowly came to realize that she knew ...
You will come to regret your decision.

6) grow old etc
Without noticing it he grew old.
When they grew rich they began to drop their old friends.
As the weather grows colder, my thoughts turn to holidays in the sun. :-D
He grew to accept his stepmother, but he never grew to love her.

7) turn red etc
She turned bright red and ran out of the room.
He turns nasty after he's had a couple of drinks.
Towards the end of the war he turned traitor.

:up: