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What is the difference between happen and become?

happen | become |

As verbs the difference between happen and become

is that happen is to occur or take place while become is to arrive, come (to a place).

As an adverb happen

is obsolete or dialect maybe, perhaps.

happen

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To occur or take place.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)
  • , volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Our banks are out of control , passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic who still resists the idea that something drastic needs to happen for him to turn his life around.}}
  • To occur unexpectedly, by chance or with a low probability.
  • To encounter by chance.
  • * 1860 , , The Marble Faun , ch. 30:
  • Unexpectedly, in a nook close by the farmhouse, he happened upon a spot where the vintage had actually commenced.

    Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See

    Derived terms

    * as it happens * happen along * happener * happeningly * it so happens

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (obsolete or dialect) maybe, perhaps.
  • English catenative verbs 1000 English basic words ----

    become

    English

    Verb

  • (obsolete) To arrive, come (to a place).
  • *:
  • *:& thenne the noble knyghte sire Launcelot departed with ryghte heuy chere sodenly / that none erthely creature wyste of hym / nor where he was become / but sir Bors
  • *(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • *:But, madam, where is Warwick then become ?
  • (copulative) To come about; happen; come into being; arise.
  • :
  • (copulative) begin to be; turn into.
  • :
  • :
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.}}
  • *{{quote-news, year=2012, date=May 13, author=Alistair Magowan, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Sunderland 0-1 Man Utd , passage=Then, as the Sunderland fans' cheers bellowed around the stadium, United's title bid was over when it became apparent City had pinched a last-gasp winner to seal their first title in 44 years.}}
  • *{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= William E. Conner
  • , title= An Acoustic Arms Race , volume=101, issue=3, page=206-7, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.}}
  • To be proper for; to befit.
  • *1930 , (Duff Cooper), Talleyrand , Folio Society, 2010, p.7:
  • *:His ordinationenabled him to be independent of his parents, and to afford a manner of living which became his rank rather than his calling.
  • Of an adornment, piece of clothing etc.: to look attractive on (someone).
  • :
  • Synonyms

    * (to be suitable for) befit, suit

    References

    * *