happen to somebody
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Also seen as: happen to something
Meaning · English
Experience something, often unexpectedly
Literally: occur by chance to a person
Register: neutral
Examples
It happened to me once before.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Everyday learner phrase (CEFR A2); level cross-referenced from published learner lists. Definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-01; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “happen to somebody” mean?
Experience something, often unexpectedly Literally: occur by chance to a person
Is “happen to somebody” formal or informal?
happen to somebody is generally neutral.