How to say “happen” in Chinese

发生

fāshēng

happen

verb · HSK 3 · topic “Work and business”

“Happen” in Chinese is 发生, fā shēng: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.

How to pronounce it

发生 is read fā shēng: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.

fā — 1st tonehigh and level, like a long note

shēng — 1st tonehigh and level, like a long note

How to write it

发

fā — send, emit

Its second reading is fà, “hair”: in 头发 it sounds with the neutral tone, fa.

生

shēng — be born, life

In 学生 it means “one who”: one who studies. It is read with the neutral tone: sheng.

Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “发生”.

Examples

Sentences from the course lessons with 发生. Tap the sound icon to listen.

发生了什么事？fāshēngleshénmeshìWhat happened?
这几年城市发生了巨大的变化。zhèjǐniánchéngshìfāshēnglejùdàdebiànhuàIn recent years the city has gone through huge changes.
两辆汽车在路口发生了碰撞liǎngliàngqìchēzàilùkǒufāshēnglepèngzhuàngTwo cars collided at the intersection.
路上小心以免发生意外lùshangxiǎoxīn,yǐmiǎnfāshēngyìwàiBe careful on the road, so nothing happens.
这种事故发生的概率很低zhèzhǒngshìgùfāshēngdegàilǜhěndīThe probability of such an accident is very low.
双方因合同发生了纠纷。shuāngfāngyīnhétóngfāshēnglejiūfēnA dispute arose between the parties over the contract.

More words from the lesson “What happened and what to do”

Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “happen” in Chinese?

“Happen” in Chinese is 发生, pinyin fāshēng.

What does 发生 mean?

发生 (fāshēng) means “happen”.

How do you write 发生?

发生 is 2 characters: 发 (fā) — send, emit; 生 (shēng) — be born, life. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.

How do you pronounce 发生?

发生 is read fāshēng. Tones: fā — first tone, shēng — first tone. The page has a native speaker recording.

“happen” in the lesson “What happened and what to do”

This word is from the topic “Work and business” of HSK 3. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.

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