happen

See also: Happen

English Edit

Etymology Edit

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).

Pronunciation Edit

IPA^(key): /ˈhæpən/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -æpən

Verb Edit

happen (third-person singular simple present happens, present participle happening, simple past and past participle happened)

(intransitive) To occur or take place.
Synonyms: come to pass; see also Thesaurus:happen

Let me tell you how it happened.
- 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:
  Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic who still resists the idea that something drastic needs to happen for him to turn his life around.
(transitive, archaic) To happen to; to befall.
- 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
  'By my soul! I believe something bad has happened me,' he muttered, and popped up his window, and looked out, half dreaming over the church-yard on the park beyond […]
(intransitive or impersonal, 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?

I happened to get wet.
(followed by on or upon) To encounter by chance.
- 1860, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 30, in The Marble Faun:
  Unexpectedly, in a nook close by the farmhouse, he happened upon a spot where the vintage had actually commenced.

Usage notes Edit

In the sense which indicates a chance occurrence, happen is a catenative verb that takes the to-infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Derived terms Edit

Related terms Edit

Translations Edit

to occur

Afrikaans: aangaan
Albanian: ndodh (sq)
Arabic: حَدَثَ‎ (ar) (ḥadaṯa), جَرَى‎ (ar) (jarā), حَصَلَ‎ (ḥaṣala), وَقَعَ‎ (waqaʕa)
Egyptian Arabic: حصل‎ (ḥaṣal)

Hijazi Arabic: صار‎ (ṣār), حصل‎ (ḥaṣal)

Moroccan Arabic: وقع‎ (uqəʕ)
Aramaic: הוי‎ (hwy)
Armenian: պատահել (hy) (patahel)
Assamese: ঘটা (ghota)
Azerbaijani: vaqe olmaq, olmaq (az)
Bashkir: булыу (bulıw)
Basque: gertatu, bururatu
Belarusian: здара́цца impf (zdarácca), зда́рыцца pf (zdárycca), адбыва́цца impf (adbyvácca), адбы́цца pf (adbýcca), трапля́цца impf (trapljácca), тра́піцца pf (trápicca)
Bengali: ঘটা (bn) (ghoṭa)
Bulgarian: слу́чвам се (bg) impf (slúčvam se), ста́вам (bg) impf (stávam)
Burmese: ဖြစ် (my) (hprac)
Catalan: passar (ca), ocórrer (ca), succeir (ca)
Cherokee: ᏂᎦᎵᏍᏗᎭ (nigalisdiha)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 發生／发生 (faat³ sang¹)

Mandarin: 發生／发生 (zh) (fāshēng)
Czech: stát se (cs) pf, dít se (cs) impf, dějít se impf
Danish: ske (da), hænde (da), indtræffe, forefalde
Dutch: gebeuren (nl)
Esperanto: okazi (eo)
Estonian: juhtuma, toimuma (et)
Faroese: henda (fo), gerast
Finnish: tapahtua (fi), käydä (fi), sattua (fi)
French: arriver (fr), se produire (fr), se passer (fr), advenir (fr)
Galician: suceder, pasar (gl), ocorrer (gl), acontecer (gl), avir (gl), adergar, callar (gl), acaescer
Gallurese: avviné
Georgian: მოხდომა (moxdoma)
German: geschehen (de), passieren (de), stattfinden (de), vorfallen (de)
Alemannic German: passiere
Greek: συμβαίνω (el) (symvaíno), γίνομαι (el) (gínomai), τυχαίνω (el) (tychaíno), λαχαίνω (el) (lachaíno), τυγχάνω (el) (tyncháno), διαδραματίζομαι (el) (diadramatízomai), σημειώνομαι (el) (simeiónomai)
Ancient: τυγχάνω (tunkhánō), συμφέρω (sumphérō)
Hebrew: קָרָה‎ (he) (kará), הָלַךְ‎ (he) (halákh)
Hindi: बीतना (hi) (bītnā)
Hungarian: történik (hu), megtörténik (hu), megesik (hu)
Icelandic: bera við, henda (is), verða (is), vilja til, gerast (is)
Ido: eventar (io)
Ingrian: tapahtua
Irish: tarlaigh
Old Irish: ad·cumaing, do·ecmaing, for·cumaing
Isan: please add this translation if you can
Italian: accadere (it), succedere (it), occorrere (it)
Japanese: 起こる (ja) (おこる, okoru), 起る (ja) (おこる, okoru)
Kazakh: болу (kk) (bolu)
Khmer: កើតឡើង (km) (kaət laəng), កើត (km) (kaət)
Korean: 일어나다 (ko) (ireonada), 발생하다 (ko) (balsaenghada)
Kyrgyz: болуу (ky) (boluu)
Ladino:
Roman: afitar
Lao: ບັງເກີດ (bang kœ̄t), ເກີດ (lo) (kœ̄t), ເປັນ (pen)
Latin: fiō (la), accidō (la), contingo (la), evenio (la), cado (la), intercido, eo (la)
Latvian: notik
Lithuanian: atsitikti, vykti (lt), įvykti
Lü: please add this translation if you can
Luhya: esihole
Macedonian: се случува impf (se slučuva), се случи pf (se sluči)
Maore Comorian: uhidjiri
Mbyá Guaraní: iko
Mongolian: болох (mn) (bolox), тохиолдох (mn) (toxioldox)
Ngazidja Comorian: uhundra (+ direct object)
Norwegian: foregå, inntreffe, skje (no)
Old English: ġelimpan, weorþan, ġebyrian
Old Turkic: 𐰉𐰆𐰞‎ (bol-)
Persian: روی دادن‎ (fa) (ruy dâdan), اتفاق افتادن‎ (fa) (ettefâq oftâdan), واقع شدن‎ (vâqe' šodan), پیشامد کردن‎ (pišâmad kardan)
Polish: zdarzać się (pl) impf, zdarzyć się (pl) pf, wydarzać się impf, wydarzyć się (pl) pf, dziać się (pl) impf, stać się (pl) pf, trafiać się (pl) impf, trafić się (pl) pf
Portuguese: acontecer (pt), suceder (pt), ocorrer (pt)
Quechua: tukuy (qu)
Romagnol: cadér
Romanian: întâmpla (ro), petrece (ro)
Russian: происходи́ть (ru) impf (proisxodítʹ), произойти́ (ru) pf (proizojtí); случа́ться (ru) impf (slučátʹsja), случи́ться (ru) pf (slučítʹsja), состоя́ться (ru) pf (sostojátʹsja)
Sardinian:
Campidanese: accadésseri, sutzediri

Logudorese: sutzèdere
Sassarese: accadí
Scottish Gaelic: tachair, turchair, tàrlaidh
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: догодити се pf, десити се pf

Roman: dogoditi se (sh) pf, desiti se (sh) pf
Seri: aaha
Shan: please add this translation if you can
Slovak: stať sa pf, udiať sa pf
Slovene: zgodíti se pf
Spanish: suceder (es), ocurrir (es), pasar (es)
Swahili: kutukia, kutokea
Swedish: hända (sv), ske (sv), inträffa (sv), äga rum (sv), förekomma (sv)
Tagalog: mangyari
Tajik: рӯй додан (rüy dodan), воқеъ шудан (voqeʾ šudan), иттифоқ афтодан (ittifoq aftodan)
Tamil: ஆகு (ta) (āku), நட (ta) (naṭa)
Thai: เกิด (th) (gə̀ət)
Tibetan: བྱུང (byung)
Turkish: olmak (tr), yer bulmak (tr), meydana gelmek (tr)
Turkmen: bolmak (tk)
Ukrainian: става́тися impf (stavátysja), ста́тися pf (státysja), трапля́тися impf (trapljátysja), тра́питися pf (trápytysja), відбува́тися impf (vidbuvátysja), відбу́тися pf (vidbútysja), чини́тися impf (čynýtysja), учини́тися pf (učynýtysja), зчини́тися pf (zčynýtysja), роби́тися impf (robýtysja), зроби́тися pf (zrobýtysja)
Urdu: بیتنا‎ (bītnā), ہونا‎ (honā)
Uyghur: يۈز بەرمەك‎ (yüz bermek)
Uzbek: boʻlmoq (uz), voqe boʻlmoq, yuz bermoq
Vietnamese: xảy ra (vi), xảy đến
Volapük: jenön (vo)
Walloon: ariver (wa), sorvini (wa), si passer (wa)
Yiddish: געשען‎ (geshen)
Zhuang: please add this translation if you can

to occur by chance, unexpectedly

Finnish: sattua (fi)
Polish: przypadkiem (pl) (used with a verb)

Adverb Edit

happen (not comparable)

(obsolete or dialect) maybe, perhaps.
- 2016, Sally Wainwright, Happy Valley, spoken by Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire), Manchester: Red Production Company; distributed by BBC Studios, published 2016:
  Yeah, well happen if he'd gone quietly, she wouldn't have needed to show him who's in charge.

Dutch Edit

Etymology Edit

hap (“bite”) +‎ -en

Pronunciation Edit

IPA^(key): /ˈɦɑpə(n)/
Audio (file)
Rhymes: -ɑpən

Verb Edit

happen

to take a bite

Inflection Edit

Inflection of happen (weak)
infinitive	happen
past singular	hapte
past participle	gehapt
infinitive	happen
gerund	happen n
	present tense	past tense
1st person singular	hap	hapte
2nd person sing. (jij)	hapt	hapte
2nd person sing. (u)	hapt	hapte
2nd person sing. (gij)	hapt	hapte
3rd person singular	hapt	hapte
plural	happen	hapten

subjunctive sing.¹	happe	hapte
subjunctive plur.¹	happen	hapten

imperative sing.	hap
imperative plur.¹	hapt

participles	happend	gehapt
¹⁾ Archaic.

Descendants Edit

→ Papiamentu: hap

Noun Edit

happen

plural of hap