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happens to be vs happened to be

"Happens to be" and "happened to be" are both correct, but the contexts in which they're used would differ. "Happens to be" is used in the present tense to describe something that is currently the case, while "happened to be" is used in the past tense to describe something that was the case at a specific point in the past.

Explained by Gregg
Editor at TextRanch

Last updated: July 22, 2024 • 36365 views

happens to be

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to describe something that is currently the case.

Use "happens to be" in the present tense to describe something that is true or exists at the current moment.

Examples:

He happens to be a great singer.
She happens to be my best friend.
It happens to be the largest building in the city.

Show examples from the web [+]
Last updated: October 25, 2024

Nov 13, 2016 ... It's basically a less emphatic way of saying that someone is something. In other words: He happens to be the sheriff in this town.
Mar 2, 2020 ... 128K likes, 995 comments - djkhaled on March 2, 2020: "“Everybody has an addiction, mine happens to be success.
The BEST Chocolate Cake Ever...that Happens to Be VEGAN. I Kid You Not!: First off, I will admit, I have never been a cake person. For the first 20 years of ...
May 10, 2022 ... r ... Still the best birthday I had since Nov 17th also happens to be mine.
EVERYTHING HAPPENS TO BE. by Ben Goldberg, released 18 June 2021 1. What About 2. 21 3. Fred Hampton 4. Everything Happens To Be. 5. Cold Weather 6.
Jul 23, 2024 ... Jel happens to have fabric stacked that happens to be the NB flag upside down! (Worded better!! I'm not an idiot!)
Jul 13, 2024 ... Today happens to be my wife's birthday. We had a wonderful time celebrating tonight with our family despite the terrible events in ...
Jan 27, 2021 ... My character with the most personality happens to be a droid. Meet DV-14 · Best · Top · New · Controversial · Old · Q&A ...
A Man of Faith (Who Also Happens to be Gay). Sunday, July 26th, 2015. "My name is RJ. I'm 51-years-old and only came out when I was 49. I knew I was " ...
Sep 13, 2017 ... WORLD PEACE CURRY, AND HAPPENS TO BE GLORIOUSLY DELICIOUS · SOUTHEAST ASIAN AROMATICS, KOREAN CHILI PASTE, INDIAN SPICES, GREEK YOGURT, ITALIAN ...

Alternatives:

is
turns out to be
seems to be
appears to be
proves to be

happened to be

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to describe something that was the case at a specific point in the past.

Use "happened to be" in the past tense to describe something that was true or existed at a specific point in the past.

Examples:

He happened to be a great singer when he was younger.
She happened to be my neighbor last year.
It happened to be the largest building in the city until recently.

Show examples from the web [+]
Last updated: October 25, 2024

Nov 13, 2016 ... Thank you. Is this phrase always in present simple tense form, and then "she happened to be the dean of the college" is not correct? – ...
Sep 4, 2024 ... Sasha Skochilenko: I just happened to be the winner of the 'Hunger Games'. The Russian artist, who was freed in a prison swap, on life under ...
Sep 18, 2021 ... My comments follow. I Happened To Be Standing. I don't know where prayers go, or what they do. Do cats pray, while they ...
Jul 31, 2023 ... 230731 [SKZ LOG] Stray Kids : A Day That Happened To Be Filmed｜2023 STAYweeK [ENG SUB]. Reality. Play. Archived post. New comments cannot be ...
Marron happened to be at the wheel." "Randy happens to be blind, but we're happy to have him with us on his first flight." "Everybody has ...
Feb 21, 2024 ... they just happened to be on the other side of the war". anyone got an idea what that means? I feel like this statement could only be applied ...
Jun 15, 2021 ... 308 likes, 35 comments - marcscibilia on June 15, 2021: "first and only point I filmed happened to be the best of the day. @jacobsooter".
It's “Happened to be” a Closet, Bangkok: What's in a name? Not much, according to this cafe name. Bangkok already earns its whimsical, zany, insane tag and ...
Sep 27, 2024 ... 46 likes, 1 comments - ilana_nankin on September 27, 2024: "3 decades ago we happened to be in the same 3rd grade class.
Keeping text within the view, if the text happened to be drawn outside of the room/view. · Thread starter darijs1 · Start date May 15, 2018 ...

Alternatives:

was
used to be
was once
was actually
was in fact

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