Learn English – Difference between be and become

differencelinking-verbs

I am not good at English. And I used to say that I want to become a software developer. But Some people are using that I want to be a [something]. Which one is correct? And at what situations we should use which one? I read in many websites. Answers I have found so far are

  • Be is abbreviation of become. Both are same.
  • Be is representing continuous thing. Become represents future.

I can't understand it because of people usage. Could anyone please further explain the difference between these two?

Best Answer

BE is notoriously difficult to define, because you can't say what it "is" without in effect using the word itself.

But the difference between BE and BECOME is relatively easy.

  • BE designates a state, something which continues unchanged through time.
  • BECOME designates an event, a change of state.

Right now you are (BE) not yet a software developer. You are perhaps a student of software development. That is a state. You will continue to BE a student until your state changes. At that point you will BECOME a software developer. After that point you will no longer BE a student, you will BE a developer.

So both ways of describing your ambition are correct. You want to BE a developer; but in order to achieve that state you must BECOME a developer, you must change your present state.

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