student asking question

What does the phrase “happen to + V” mean?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

To "happen to" do something means that it is random or by chance. In the case of the video here, "happen to know a thing or two about scary" means that by chance she knows about scary things. You can use the expression "happen to" whenever you are expressing that something was a coincidence or was done by chance and was not known before. Ex: I happened to see my neighbor at the store today. Ex: The dinner she cooked for us happens to be my favorite.

Complete the expression with a quiz!