Phrase · 📈 Describing change
Antes era muy tímida, pero con los años se volvió más segura.
She used to be very shy, but over the years she became more confident.
B2describing changeAudio · coming soon
Why every word is where it is
Antesadverbbeforeera1verbshe wasser · imperfect · 3rd sing.muyadverbverytímidaadjectiveshytímido · fem. · sing.,peroconjunctionbutcon2prepositionwithlos2determinertheel · masc. · pl. · definiteaños2nounyearsaño · masc. · pl.se3object pronoun(herself)3rd · direct objectvolvió3verbbecamevolver · past · 3rd sing.másadverbmoreseguraadjectiveconfidentseguro · fem. · sing..
- era → tímida: agree
- volvió → se: agree
- volvió → segura: agree
- años → los: agree
Why it's built this way
The notes match the numbers above.
- 1era (imperfect) describes how she used to be; se volvió (preterite) marks the change. Preterite vs imperfect in narration →
- 2con los años = over the years. A natural opener for slow, gradual change.
- 3volverse + adjective: a change in someone’s character. Segura here means self-confident. Verbs of change: ponerse, quedarse, volverse, hacerse, convertirse en →