happen to

phrasal verb

happened to; happening to; happens to

: to affect or involve (someone or something) as the result of an event or action

An odd thing happened to me on my way to the office last week.

I wonder what/whatever happened to that guy after he lost his job.

especially : to affect (someone or something) in a bad or harmful way

I promise nothing will happen to you.

What happened to the car? There's a big scratch on the fender.

Examples of happen to in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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For presidents, history tends to be more about what happens to them rather than through them. —

Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 21 Jan. 2025 Baldwin, meanwhile, strikes up a close friendship with Kendall Jenner, who also happens to be friends with Bieber, and the three are spotted at the Hillsong Church in NYC that November. —

Stacey Leasca, Glamour, 21 Jan. 2025 The University of Alberta's meteorite collection curator, Chris Herd, who happened to have a vacation on the island already scheduled, got a call to investigate. —

Julian Dossett, Space.com, 21 Jan. 2025 The connection feels particularly prescient on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which happened to coincide with the Inauguration. —

Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 20 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for happen to