Englishhappen
verb
1 she could not explain how the accident happened | this is what happens when the mechanism goes wrong:
occur, take place, come about, come off, come into being;
ensue, result, transpire, materialize, arise, be, crop up, come up, fall out, pan out, turn out, follow, develop, emerge, surface, present itself, supervene;
North American, informal go down;
literary come to pass, betide, chance;
rare eventuate, hap.
2 I wonder what happened to Susie?:
become of, be the fate of, be the lot of, overtake, be visited on;
literary befall, betide.
3 they happened to be in San Francisco when the news was received:
chance, have the good/bad/ill fortune, have the good/bad/ill luck, be someone's fortune/misfortune.
4 he happened on a linnet's nest:
discover unexpectedly, find unexpectedly, find by chance, chance on, stumble on, hit on, light on, come on, come across, run across, blunder on, unearth, uncover, locate, bring to light;
meet by chance, run into, encounter;
informal bump into, dig up;
archaic run against.