Chinese phrase
发生什么事了？ fā shēng shén me shì le
Meaning
What happened?
When to use it
This asks what has happened or what is going on. It is a common, neutral way to ask for an explanation after noticing an event.
Example dialogue
刚才楼下很吵，发生什么事了？ gāng cái lóu xià hěn chǎo fā shēng shén me shì le
It was really noisy downstairs just now. What happened?
有个自行车撞到了人，不过大家都没事，正在收拾东西。 yǒu gè zì xíng chē zhuàng dào le rén bú guò dà jiā dōu méi shì zhèng zài shōu shí dōng xī
A bicycle hit someone, but everyone is fine and cleaning up now.