Listener and student Yaniv asked me to clarify the meaning and use of the French verbs “arriver” and “se passer”. In this episode, you’ll see that, although both verbs have a similar meaning, the structure of the sentence is quite different!

ARRIVER = (sth) happens (to sb)

“that happened to me” = Ca m’est arrivé

Something incredible will happen to you if you believe in it = Quelque chose d’incroyable t’arrivera/vous arrivera si tu y crois / si vous y croyez.

Accidents happen = Les accidents arrivent (à tout le monde).

Something happens = quelque chose se passe

quelque chose se passe bien/mal = Something goes well/badly

Les vacances se passent bien.

I hope your interview will go well = j’espère que ton entretien se passera bien / va bien se passer.

Everything went well = Tout s’est bien passé

“Qu’est-ce qui s’est passé ?” = what happened?

“How did it go?” =”Comment ça s’est passé?”

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The post FYW 208 : How to say “What happened?” and more: “arriver” vs “se passer” in French appeared first on French Your Way.