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  1. The name of the team became a symbol of a fast and furious play

  2. The name of the team has become a symbol of a fast and furious play

Is any of these two sentences wrong? When doing a test I answered "became" but my teacher said that's wrong and I should say has become. I doubt that and I personally would say that both answers are correct.

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    Was there any other context, or did the exercise merely present these words with a blank to be filled with either "became" or "has become"?
    – David K
    Jun 11, 2016 at 23:34
  • The exercise was presented only with these words.
    – Bob
    Jun 11, 2016 at 23:46

3 Answers 3

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Present perfect simple --- has become --- is used here because the consequences of past actions are important in the present.

For example - I've lost my phone. (the result is that I cannot call anyone)

I lost my phone yesterday. I was worried. (There is no consequence because I found it later)

Go here for a detailed study.

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    Aside from the fact that it's odd that losing your keys results in your not being able to call anyone, I lost a fortune in the market yesterday would seem to have consequences important in the present, at least for most people.
    – deadrat
    Jun 12, 2016 at 1:17
  • @deadrat Thanks. I edited the mistake. Also, good point.
    – vickyace
    Jun 12, 2016 at 1:19
  • I think there's not enough context to decide. We may be talking about a team which is active now, or which was active some years ago but is now defunct, in which case past simple would be appropriate.
    – Sydney
    Jul 15, 2016 at 13:06
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It depends. #1 is correct if you're saying that a particular incident caused the name to become a symbol of a fast and furious play. #2 is correct if the team's history over time caused the name to become a symbol of a fast and furious play.

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“Became” is when it happened in the past only!

Ex 1: “I lost in the market” true has serious consequences in the present, but the “losing” process has stopped in the past!

Ex 2: “the name of the team became a symbol of a fast and furious play” means it once became a symbol in the past but is not a symbol of a fast and furious play anymore. “the name of the team has become a symbol of a fast and furious play” means in the past it became a symbol and it’s still a symbol. If the teacher said you should say “has become” it’s because symbols of something often are for good, once they’re a symbol of something, they can’t stop being that (except maybe in very rare cases or so, in which you use became instead of has become, depending on the context)

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