# happened vs happens

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### happened
*verb · IPA /ˈhæpənd/ · frequency rank #634*
simple past and past participle of happen

### happens
*verb · IPA /ˈhæpənz/ · frequency rank #1,169*
third-person singular simple present indicative of happen

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/happened-vs-happens