になっていた

[eeky]

Hi,

1. バッグの中に入っていた飴が暑さでクニャクニャになっていた。
Translation given: The candy I had in my bag went mushy in the heat.

2. 彼女の髪は美しい巻き髪になっていた。
Translation given: Her hair hung in neat coils.

In (1), になっていた has the sense of "became" (translated as "went"), but in (2) there is no sense of "became" in the translation. How do we know that there is no sense of "became" in (2)? Or could there be?

 

[Toritoribe]

美しい巻き髪になっていた means that her hair hadn't been 美しい巻き髪 before that time, but changed to it. Thus, it has a nuance of "became".

 

[Toritoribe]

I realized that there is another interpretation. If that's a part of a description about her figure, なっていた can be the simple past of なっている, which describes the present state of her hair as same as この道は行き止まりになっている. In this case, 美しい巻き髪になっていた is close to 美しい巻き髪だった/美しい巻き髪をしていた in meaning, and doesn't have a nuance of "became".