Gracias a su esfuerzo, Antonio llegó a ser director de la empresa.
Thanks to his effort, Antonio became director of the company.Llegó a ser uno de los países más ricos del mundo.
It became one of the richest countries in the world.Llegó a ser célebre.
He/she became famous.42.2 (p. 250)
41.5 Talking about changes caused by an action
As in English, changes in the subject’s state or condition, which are the direct result of
an action or an event, are usually expressed with quedar, in this context meaning ‘to
look’, ‘to be’, or quedarse, ‘to remain’, ‘to turn’, ‘to be (left)’.41.5.1 Quedar
Mi habitación quedó muy bonita. La pinté yo mismo.
My room looked very pretty. I painted it myself.Mamá ha quedado muy bien después de su operación.
My mother is very well after her operation.41.5.2 Quedarse
Cuando oyó mi respuesta, se quedó callado.
When he heard my reply, he remained silent.Al oír la noticia, se quedó pálida.
When she heard the news, she turned pale.In phrases such as ‘to get sad’, ‘to turn pale’, quedarse and ponerse (see 41.1 above)
are interchangeable, although quedarse puts more emphasis on the transformation
being due to an outside agent.Se quedaron/pusieron tristes. They got sad.
Se quedó/puso pálida. She turned pale.Transformations which imply some kind of loss or incapacity usually accept either
quedar or quedarse:Quedó/se quedó inválido a consecuencia del accidente.
He was disabled as a result of the accident.Francisco quedó/se quedó huérfano a los cinco años.
Francisco was left an orphan when he was five years old.Quedó/se quedó viudo.
He became a widower.Quedó/se quedó soltera.
She never married.Talking about changes caused by an action 41.5