I posted at 21:54 and I think BECOME is best under most circumstances if the programs still aren't available.

But just for the sake of argument, and only for those of you who like arguing about grammar: what if "they" used to be interested in the programs on the condition that the programs became available by some date in the past, but now things have changed and they're no longer interested? As in, "I expressed a desire to take Beatles Studies if the program became available in my college, but it never did before I graduated."

Not to stir up trouble or anything!

Become.

Become

Anonymous wrote:I've gone back and forth on this sentence, and I can't figure out which verb tense for "become" is appropriate:

"They expressed a desire to apply when programs (BECAME/BECOME) available in their communities."

The programs are not yet available, if that helps figuring the right tense. Any insight? Thanks.

'

become in this case

It's situational. The desire was there, but the programs weren't available at the time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This is ambiguous. The correct answer depends on how you interpret "when" -- does it mean (1) "at the time that" or (2) "as soon as".

Does the speaker mean: "They expressed a desire to apply 'at the time that' programs BECAME available ..."; or

Does the speaker mean: "They expressed a desire to apply 'as soon as' programs BECOME available ..."

+1

But OP said the programs are not yet available. So the programs NEVER BECAME available at any point in the past. So it's BECOME, because we're still waiting for them to become available.

Oh. Nevermind [voice of Gilda Radner].

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This is ambiguous. The correct answer depends on how you interpret "when" -- does it mean (1) "at the time that" or (2) "as soon as".

Does the speaker mean: "They expressed a desire to apply 'at the time that' programs BECAME available ..."; or

Does the speaker mean: "They expressed a desire to apply 'as soon as' programs BECOME available ..."

+1

But OP said the programs are not yet available. So the programs NEVER BECAME available at any point in the past. So it's BECOME, because we're still waiting for them to become available.

oops... thanks for pointing that out. BECOME it is then!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This is ambiguous. The correct answer depends on how you interpret "when" -- does it mean (1) "at the time that" or (2) "as soon as".

Does the speaker mean: "They expressed a desire to apply 'at the time that' programs BECAME available ..."; or

Does the speaker mean: "They expressed a desire to apply 'as soon as' programs BECOME available ..."

+1

But OP said the programs are not yet available. So the programs NEVER BECAME available at any point in the past. So it's BECOME, because we're still waiting for them to become available.

Anonymous wrote:
This is ambiguous. The correct answer depends on how you interpret "when" -- does it mean (1) "at the time that" or (2) "as soon as".

Does the speaker mean: "They expressed a desire to apply 'at the time that' programs BECAME available ..."; or

Does the speaker mean: "They expressed a desire to apply 'as soon as' programs BECOME available ..."

+1

Yes, it's the subjunctive.

But BECOME, because the the programs still aren't available. If the programs had become available at some time in the past (before the speaker is saying this), then it would be BECAME.

"They expressed a desire to apply when programs (BECAME/BECOME) available in their communities."

This is ambiguous. The correct answer depends on how you interpret "when" -- does it mean (1) "at the time that" or (2) "as soon as".

Does the speaker mean: "They expressed a desire to apply 'at the time that' programs BECAME available ..."; or

Does the speaker mean: "They expressed a desire to apply 'as soon as' programs BECOME available ..."

Anonymous wrote:Generally, you want to stick to the same tense within a sentence. So, "became." Or change "expressed" to "express" and use "become."

+1

Become

It's BECOME because the programs are not yet available.

It depends on the situation. There is no possibility that programs will still become available, right? The sentence is about a moment in the past when a certain possibility existed and now no longer exists. If that's the case it's became. If the possibility still exists and it's the expression of desire only t hat occurred in the past it's become.

I think it is actually correct either way - subjective tense is optional in English.