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hi i'm vanessa from speak english with

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vanessa calm what in the world happened

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let's talk about it are you ready to

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take your english from regular boring

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english to fun a party english

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okay maybe not party english but at

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least real natural english well there is

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one advanced word that i'd like to share

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with you it's the word happen today

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we're going to be talking about a basic

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way to use happen and then an advanced

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way to use happen so i hope that you'll

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be able to integrate it into your

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vocabulary and sound like a natural

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native speaker let's start with the

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basic version of happen it's simply

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something that occurred if your coworker

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walks into the office covered in mud you

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might say what happened this is a casual

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conversational way to say what occurred

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occurred is way too formal for daily

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conversation so the word happen is

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perfect your coworker might say it it

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all happened so fast i tripped on the

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sidewalk i don't remember all of the

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details I don't remember exactly what

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happened let's take a look at three

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specific situations when we often use

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the word happen to talk about something

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that occurred let's think about this

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situation that your friend just got

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engaged to be married how can we use

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happen to talk about this you might ask

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when did you get engaged and she could

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say it happened on Saturday this is

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talking about a day or a time if your

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friend starts crying because she's so

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excited about her engagement you might

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say oh I'm so sorry are you okay and she

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could say don't worry it happens all the

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time again we're talking about a time or

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a day all the time when does it happen

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all the time I guess she cries a lot you

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can see in these two sentences that

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happen or if we talk about in the past

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happened is simply the verb of the

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sentence

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it happened on Saturday it happens all

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the time

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when your friend tells you that she got

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engaged to the man of her dreams she

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might say I

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can't believe this is really happening

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we often use happen to talk about when

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you're questioning reality I can't

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believe this is really happening or

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maybe for you

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maybe you're in love with the man who

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just asked your friend to marry him so

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you might say oh no this can't be

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happening you're questioning reality oh

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no this can't be happening

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when your friend first tells you that

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she got engaged she runs up to you and

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says you'll never guess what happened

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we often use happened for unknown

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situations especially with the word what

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you'll never guess what happened let's

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see a couple other examples with this

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when you feel sad inside because she

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just got engaged to the man you love you

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think we'll just see what happens maybe

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you think that they won't actually get

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married or maybe something will happen

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so you're kind of thinking about an

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unknown thing that might happen in the

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future we'll just see what happens

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and then before their wedding if that

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man falls in love with you and your

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friend says what happened you might say

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I don't know what happened you can see

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in all of these situations were using

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what happened to talk about something

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unknown this was the basic way to use

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happen as something that simply occurred

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but what if we want to take it up to the

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next level and use it in the advanced

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way the advanced way to use happen or

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happened is in situations where there is

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a coincidence two things that happen at

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the same time by accident something that

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happens by chance you didn't plan this

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my friend used this last week because I

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went over to her house for dinner and

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before I went over I asked is there

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anything that I can bring maybe some

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drinks a dessert side dish something to

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help her with the dinner and so I

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brought some beer to her house and when

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I got there her husband said whoa I

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happened to buy the same beer

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he had the same beer in his hand that I

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had brought he used happened to buy the

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same beer because he was talking about

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something that was an accident we didn't

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plan to buy the same beer it was a

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coincidence two things happened at the

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same time I brought the same beer

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he brought the same beer so he used

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happened to buy the same beer did you

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notice the Senate structure happen to

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plus the infinitive let's look at a

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couple other examples if you happen to

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see Vanessa tell her I said hi this

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means you're not planning on seeing me

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but you know if you pass on the street

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or if you see each other at work okay

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tell her that I said hi if you happen to

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see her notice that the verb here C is

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not conjugated that means it's the

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infinitive happen to see I happened to

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be asleep when he called me I didn't

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plan on being asleep when he called this

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is something that was a coincidence two

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things happened at the same time by

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accident I was asleep and he called I

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happened to be asleep the verb here B is

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unconjugated the teacher happened to

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give us a quiz on the day that I was

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absent I didn't plan on being absent on

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the day of the quiz so this was just a

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coincidence an accident here we have the

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verbs happened to give give is not

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conjugated it's the infinitive the

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teacher happened to give us a quiz the

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verb happened is conjugated in the past

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because this is something that happened

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in the past not now not in the future

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but it happened in the past it occurred

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in the past so make sure that that

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second verb is the one that's not

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conjugated she happened to give a quiz

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the front door of my apartment is pretty

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heavy so whenever we leave I always tell

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my toddler my son to stay close to me

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I tell him if someone happens to open

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the door when we're right here it will

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hurt really bad so make sure that you

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stay with me

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so that someone doesn't hit us with the

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door if someone opened the door and hit

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us it would be by accident

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it wouldn't be on purpose it would just

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be a coincidence so I want to kind of

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warned him to stay close to me

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be careful of the door it could open

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because someone might be coming through

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so make sure that if someone happened to

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open the door you are close to me before

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we go I want to give you a little quiz

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can you use the correct version of

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happen make sure that you conjugate the

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word happen correctly is it happen

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happens happened or is it happen to

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happen to look at the full sentence and

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think is it talking about something that

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is occurring or is it talking about

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something that's a coincidence

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by accident what's the verb tense that

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should be used let's start with the

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first sentence you'll never guess what

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yesterday you'll never guess what

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happened yesterday I was browsing in the

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local bookstore and I see Tom Cruise I

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was browsing in the local bookstore and

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I happened to see Tom Cruise I couldn't

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believe it I thought is this really I

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couldn't believe it

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I thought is this really happening as I

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was walking by he turned towards me and

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smiled as I was walking by he happened

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to turn towards me and smile immediately

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my face went red and he said oh don't

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worry it all the time it happens all the

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time how did you do let's read the full

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story so that you can see all of those

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sentences in the correct way you'll

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never guess what happened yesterday

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I was browsing the local bookstore and I

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happened to see Tom Cruise I couldn't

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believe it I thought is this really

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happening as I walked by

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happened to turn towards me and smile

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immediately my face went red and he said

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oh don't worry that happens all the time

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and now I have a question for you let me

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know in the comments what is something

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that happened to happen to you yes we

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are using both versions of happen here

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it means what is something that occurred

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to you by accident without a plan you

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might say I happened to see Tom Cruise

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at the bookstore this happened by

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accident it was something that occurred

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to you by accident let me know in the

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comments and try to use the word happen

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so that you can advance and expand your

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vocabulary thank you so much for

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learning English with me and I'll see

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you again next Friday for a new lesson

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here on my youtube channel bye the next

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step is to download my free ebook 5

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steps to becoming a confident English

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speaker you'll learn what you need to do

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to speak confidently and fluently don't

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forget to subscribe to my youtube

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channel for more free lessons thanks so

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much

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bye