Se puso celoso. He became jealous.
Está celoso de Álvaro. He is jealous of Álvaro. 22.2 (p. 105)
An exception to the use of ponerse to refer to temporary changes is ponerse viejo, ‘to
become old’.Mi abuela se ha puesto muy vieja.
My grandmother has become very old.Usually, the subject undergoing the transformation, is also the grammatical subject of
the sentence. But, for emphasis, the agent causing the change may become the subject
of the sentence.Compare for instance:Él se puso contento con mi llegada.
He became happy at my arrival.Él, ‘he’, is the subject undergoing the transformation, and it is also the grammatical
subject of the sentence.Mi llegada lo puso contento. My arrival made him happy.Here, the agent causing the change, that is, mi llegada, ‘my arrival’, has become the
subject of the sentence. Note that in the second example we have used poner instead of
the reflexive ponerse (see 23 ).41.1.2 Ponerse a + infinitive
The change may involve an activity, in which case ponerse must be followed by the
preposition a plus an infinitive.Cuando salíamos, se puso a llover.
As we were leaving, it started to rain.Cuando se lo dijimos, ella se puso a llorar.
When we told her, she started to cry.41.2 Talking about long-lasting changes
41.2.1 Involving a change in the nature of the subject
Transformations of this kind are normally expressed in Spanish through the verb
volverse, ‘to become’, ‘to go’, ‘to turn’, followed by an adjective. Usually,
transformations expressed through this verb involve a gradual rather than a sudden
change, often related to the subject’s character, attitude, mental state, etc.La muerte de su hijo le causó tanto dolor que se volvió loca.
Her son’s death caused her so much pain that she went mad.Carlos se ha vuelto muy huraño.
Carlos has become very unsociable.Talking about long-lasting changes 41.2