Happen Upon

B1 8+

Pronunciation: /ˈhæpən əˈpɒn/

Definitions of happen upon

noun A word that represents a person, place, thing, or idea.

Example Sentences

A1 I happened upon a lost puppy in the park.

A2 She happened upon an old book in the attic.

B1 The hiker happened upon a hidden waterfall during their trek.

B2 The detective happened upon a crucial piece of evidence at the crime scene.

C1 The archaeologist happened upon a rare artifact while excavating the site.

C2 The scientist happened upon a groundbreaking discovery in their research.

verb A word that expresses an action, occurrence, or state of being.

Example Sentences

A1 I happened upon a stray cat while walking in the park.

A2 She happened upon an old photo album in the attic.

B1 During my travels, I happened upon a quaint little village in the mountains.

B2 While exploring the forest, we happened upon a hidden waterfall.

C1 The detective happened upon a crucial piece of evidence that solved the case.

C2 As a researcher, she often happens upon interesting findings during her fieldwork.

preposition A word that shows the relationship between a noun (or pronoun) and other words in a sentence.

Example Sentences

A1 I happened upon a lost puppy while walking in the park.

A2 She happened upon an old friend at the grocery store.

B1 During my travels, I happened upon a quaint little village in the mountains.

B2 As I was exploring the forest, I happened upon a hidden waterfall.

C1 The detective happened upon a crucial piece of evidence that cracked the case wide open.

C2 While researching for her thesis, she happened upon a rare manuscript that shed new light on the topic.

Examples of happen upon in a Sentence

formal During my research, I happened upon a rare manuscript in the library archives.

informal I was just walking through the park and happened upon an old friend from high school.

slang I can't believe we happened upon free concert tickets on our way to the mall!

figurative Sometimes in life, we happen upon unexpected opportunities that can change our path.

Grammatical Forms of happen upon

past tense

happened upon

plural

happen upon

comparative

happen upon

superlative

happen upon

present tense

happens upon

future tense

will happen upon

perfect tense

have happened upon

continuous tense

is happening upon

singular

happens upon

positive degree

happen upon

infinitive

to happen upon

gerund

happening upon

participle

happened upon

Origin and Evolution of happen upon

First Known Use: 1250 year
Language of Origin: Middle English
Story behind the word: The phrase 'happen upon' originated from Middle English, derived from the combination of 'happen' meaning to occur by chance and 'upon' indicating a point in time or space.
Evolution of the word: Originally used to describe chance encounters or discoveries, 'happen upon' has evolved to also imply stumbling upon something unexpectedly or unintentionally.