happen
verb (used without object)
to take place; come to pass; occur.
had happened
-
past perfectof happen.past perfect
Used to express a completed action that took place before another specific past action occurred.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
OpenAI said it only realised the breach had happened at all in August while reviewing "misaligned model activity", and the company sent an email to a generic Australian government inbox some weeks later.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Cramer’s family was unaware of this middle-of-the-night training thanks to “trace amounts of time travel” that would send him right back to bed as if nothing had happened.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
OpenAI didn’t recognize what had happened until afterward.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
I was not sure whether they were bad people or whether something bad had happened to them.
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026
“I wanted to pretend nothing had happened, and I didn’t want to believe what I’d done could haunt the business or our reputation.”
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
