Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
to occur:
Русский
By meaning 1
to occur:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
to occur:

Examples

15193 sentences

  1. I didn't want this to happen.

    Я не бажав, щоб так трапилось. — zinova

    ruЯ не хотел, чтобы это случилось. — al_ex_an_der

    deIch wollte nicht, dass das passiert. — MUIRIEL

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. It happened a long time ago.

    Це трапилося дуже давно. — deniko

    ruЭто произошло давным-давно. — Hellerick

    deEs ist vor langer Zeit passiert. — MUIRIEL

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. Something terrible is about to happen.

    Зараз трапиться щось жахливе. — deniko

    ruДолжно произойти что-то ужасное. — Lenin_1917

    deEtwas Schreckliches wird geschehen. — Manfredo

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Meaning

5 senses

  1. (intransitive)To occur or take place.

    Let me tell you how it happened.

    geschehen, passieren, sich ereignen

    происходи́тьproisxodítʹ, произойти́proizojtí, случа́тьсяslučátʹsja

    става́тисяstavátysja, ста́тисяstátysja, трапля́тисяtrapljátysja

  2. (impersonal, intransitive, with infinitive)To do or occur by chance or unexpectedly.

    Take an umbrella in case it happens to rain.

    Do you happen to have an umbrella?

    happen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by chance

  3. To encounter by chance.

More meanings 2

  1. (informal)To become popular or trendy.

  2. (archaic, transitive)To happen to; to befall.

Origin

From Middle English happenen, hapnen, augmented from Middle English happen (“to come to pa

From Middle English happenen, hapnen, augmented from Middle English happen (“to come to pass, happen”), perhaps from Old English hæppan (“to move accidentally, slip”) and/or from Old Norse *happa, *heppa, from Proto-Germanic *hampijaną (“to fit in, be fitting”). Equivalent to hap (“a chance, occurrence, byfall”) + -en (verbal suffix).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

happens, happening, happened, happened

regular · Lesson

Base formhappen · to happen
3rd person singularhappens
Present participlehappening
Past simplehappened
Past participlehappened

Tenses

happen · happened · will happen · have happened

Point at a form to see it in a sentence.Tap a form to see it in a sentence.

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theyhappen
he, she, ithappens

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave happened
he, she, ithas happened

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill happen

Past simpleLesson

all personshappened

Phrasal verbs

4 phrasal verbs

Synonyms

17 synonyms
To occur or take place:come to pass
Close in meaning

Word family

17 related words
RelatedhappenstanceC2happening
Derivedbehappenhappenablehappen acrosshappen alonghappen byhappenchancehappenerhappen onhappen uponmake happenmappenmishappenrehappenunhappenwhat's happening

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

Collocations

12 patterns
  • going to happen
  • about what happened
  • know what happened
  • what happened to
  • what had happened
  • happen again
  • what might happen
  • see what happens
  • for what happened
  • what was happening
  • what happened here
  • remember what happened

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
haphazardC2haplessC2haplyhappeninghappenstanceC2happilyA2

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

happen — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto