what's wrong? vs what happened

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 'What's wrong?' is typically used to inquire about someone's well-being or emotional state, while 'What happened?' is used to ask for information about a specific event or situation.

Last updated: April 03, 2024 • 710 views

what's wrong?

This phrase is correct and commonly used to inquire about someone's well-being or emotional state.

This phrase is used to ask someone if they are feeling unwell, upset, or if something is bothering them.

Examples:

You look upset. What's wrong?
She seems distracted. I wonder what's wrong.
He's been quiet all day. I should ask him what's wrong.
I can tell something is bothering you. What's wrong?
You seem tired. What's wrong?

Alternatives:

Is everything okay?
Are you feeling alright?
What's the matter?
Are you upset about something?
Is there something on your mind?

what happened

This phrase is correct and commonly used to ask for information about a specific event or situation.

This phrase is used to inquire about a past event or situation that the speaker is curious about.

Examples:

I heard a loud noise. What happened?
You look upset. What happened?
The project failed. What happened?
She didn't show up. What happened?
I saw the police car. What happened?

Show examples from the web [+]

Oct 3, 2022 ... what happened. 11M views 2 months ago. The Try Guys. The Try Guys. 8.08M subscribers. Subscribe. 960K. I like this. I dislike this.

Alternatives:

What's the story?
What's the news?
What's the deal?
What's the situation?
What's the matter?

What Our Customers Are Saying

Our customers love us! We have an average rating of 4.79 stars based on 283,125 votes.
Also check out our 2,100+ reviews on TrustPilot (4.9).

"Amazing! I like that the editors are REAL people and not A.I., like some use. The editors actually see clients as real people and not just apart of their job, and it shows. 💖"
moggie April 2025
"TextRanch has been a great help to me, especially at work because I often email my boss."
Jhey April 2025
"Thank you!"
Sachi Nakama July 2024
"I have literally been through chat, PI, claude, bard and bing and I got conflicting answers! Thank you! Human intelligence reigns!"
Retha July 2024
"Faster than AI"
CYNTHIA December 2023
"This was very helpful and I personally think this site is the best."
Kaden October 2023
"It was extremely thorough and very helpful!"
imperialelisa October 2023
"7 years without any disappointment. Always 100% satisfied. You guys are the best in the world at what you do. Thank you so much :)"
Zubair Alam October 2023
"In a world of text messages and online communication, this is great to have as a live tool. Thank you."
Selena October 2023
"Without textranch I would be stuck!"
宏祐 October 2023
"Accuracy and fast response. Personal comments from editor. Thank you."
Clh September 2023
"I wasn't aware of this service, it's fascinating and more reliable than standard IA tools available on the internet"
Arturo September 2023
"The fact that you can get reliable fast feedback on your texts."
Vinicius Antonio August 2023
"you guys are better than grammarly i'm being honest here"
ordinary July 2023
"OMG! This is really good than any other text correction tools I've used so far. Highly recommend this."
Vehan July 2023
"Very fast and accurate. thank you."
mojtaba July 2023
"I love this app because it's help to writing skills all of students ♥️"
Tarisini July 2023
"This was exactly the mistake I was looking for, the wording dind´t sound right at first. Better than grammarly!"
Ente July 2023
"The immediate help that I received was reassuring and very satisfactory. Thanks."
priiiyanshuu July 2023
"this helps A LOT for my studies."
kathnunez02 June 2023
"Woow!! I would never have expected such precision! Thank you soooo much!!"
Berta June 2023
"Real Time Editor and not AI. Many Thanks."
Priya June 2023
"The very first thing excites me about Textranch is how much your editors care."
sepideh June 2023
"The fact that texts are checked by human editors rather than by AI, etc. I appreciate this!"
Анна June 2023