Chinese word

发生

Pronunciation

Pinyinfā shēng

Meaning

  • verbhappen

Example

昨天这里发生了事故。zuó tiān zhè lǐ fā shēng liǎo shì gù

An accident happened here yesterday.

Illustration for 发生 (happen)

More examples

最近公司里发生了很多变化。zuì jìn gōng sī lǐ fā shēng le hěn duō biàn huà

A lot of changes have occurred in the company recently.

Core concept

An event or change comes into existence at a particular time and place.

Common phrases

  • 发生事故fā shēng shì gù

    an accident occurs

  • 发生变化fā shēng biàn huà

    changes occur

  • 发生问题fā shēng wèn tí

    a problem occurs

Similar words

出现chū xiàn: A thing, condition, problem, or phenomenon appears or emerges.
产生chǎn shēng: An effect, result, or influence arises from a cause.

Definition in Chinese

表示某件事或某种变化在某时某处产生或出现，常用于描述事故、问题或变化。biǎo shì mǒu jiàn shì huò móu zhǒng biàn huà zài mǒu shí mǒu chù chǎn shēng huò chū xiàn cháng yòng yú miáo shù shì gù wèn tí huò biàn huà

Word origin

发生 (fāshēng, "happen") is a modern compound of 发 (fā, "send forth") + 生 (shēng, "come into being"), picturing an event sent forth into existence.

Usage tips

  • Chinese commonly uses this verb with an event, problem, or change as the subject, and places the location after the verb when saying where it took place.

Word lists with this word