What does happened mean?
Word: Happened
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Happened means took place or came about, often without anyone planning it.
Synonyms: took place
How do you spell happened?
Syllables: hap - pened
Tricky part: The ed ending sounds like a plain 'd', so students leave out the e and write happend.
Watch out for: happend, hapend, happind
Memory tip: Every regular past tense keeps the full ed, even when you hear only a d: opened, listened, happened.
Happened in a sentence
Example 1: Nobody could explain what happened to the missing library books.
Example 2: It happened so fast that the goalkeeper did not even move.
Example 3: My aunt still laughs about what happened at her own school farewell.
Fun Fact
The word grew out of the old English word hap, meaning luck, which also gave us happy, perhaps and mishap.
Practise the CREST Way
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
Tell me exactly what denpahpe while I was away at the match.
a) happened
b) dampened
c) sharpened
d) hampered
Show answer
a) happened. Hampered and dampened need an m, and sharpened needs s and r; these eight letters spell happened.
Spell-o-Spell
Three of these words are spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word:
1. beginning 2. disappear 3. necesary 4. happened
a) needed; essential
b) to go out of sight
c) took place
d) the point at which something starts
Show answer
a) needed; essential. Necessary has one c and a double s; the other three are written correctly.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
happenned
a) e
b) n
c) p
d) d
Show answer
b) n. Happen has one n, and adding ed does not double it.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word happened as used in the sentence:
The power cut happened just as the second half of the match began.
a) returned
b) occurred
c) vanished
d) ended
Show answer
b) occurred. Occurred means took place, which is what the power cut did.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. 'It so happened that I had my umbrella' means I had my umbrella ____.
a) by chance
b) on purpose
c) every day
d) by mistake
Show answer
a) by chance
2. What usually happens without anyone planning it?
a) catching a train booked last month
b) going to a weekly music class
c) meeting an old friend unexpectedly
d) sitting an exam on its fixed date
Show answer
c) meeting an old friend unexpectedly
