Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
What happen or what happened?
English answer:
what happened
English term
Uruguay
also a journalist and a writer
Native in: Spanish 
Works in: English to Spanish, Spanish to English, Portuguese to Spanish, and 3 more.
What happen or what happened?
--You look upset, Jen. What happen (or happened)?
--I had a terrible day.
Feb 26, 2010 07:41: writeaway changed "Field" from "Art/Literary" to "Other" , "Field (specific)" from "Marketing" to "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters"
Feb 26, 2010 08:17: Rob Grayson changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Non-PRO (3): writeaway, SJLD, Rob Grayson
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Responses
what happened
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Note added at 2 hrs (2010-02-26 08:47:43 GMT)
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In the context offered, you are asking what (events) happened that changed or effected Jen. She responds "I had a bad day". 'Had' is not the present. In her response she alludes to events that have already occurred that have made her look/seem upset, and have contributed to her having a bad day.
The following URLs offers some good examples of proper usage for the word 'happen'. (dictionary references) They may help to shed some light on this for you.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/happen
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/happen
The same conversation, stated differently, would work with the usage of 'happen'. Example:
"You look upset, Jen, did something happen? [did a change of some sort occur?]
"I had a terrible day."
"What happen"? is incomplete. It is, however used in slang omitting the 'ed'. It is not proper English, as David has done a good job explaining.
If you browse some of the the millions of hits on the net, and search through them, you may find many things. Most search engines pick up the 'search' word in any form. This helps people who are not native speakers to get where they may want to go.
Many sites I viewed where 'what happen' was used were entered by people who do not understand the many ways in which the word 'happen' can be used properly. I work with English language learners, who often adopt or confuse slang and seemingly become comfortable with this type of usage. This sort of usage is common slang: "What up"? "What happen?" What down"? I could go on and on, but the bottom line is that though you can use 'happen' many different ways, asking the question "What happen"? is always and forever incorrect. It's confusing, to be sure.
In the following URL (one of those million hits) is an excellent example of a key word being picked up by a search, yet the writer has very poor English language skills in many ways. Because the statement exists on the internet does not make it correct.
The 'search' function grabs any word and offers a million different possibilities, but does not affirm that the exact word or phrase used in the search is correct.
I very often see 'happen' used incorrectly when editing Chinese>English. That is a very easy mistake to make, due to the complexities of the English language.
I hope this helps a bit.
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Note added at 2 hrs (2010-02-26 08:50:26 GMT)
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http://www.ehelp.com/questions/10436338/what-happen-to-the-a...
| Hi Demi. Thank you so much for your help. But why is the past tense correct here? The conversation is taking place in the present. Does that mean that this question should never be formulated in the present tense (what happen?), or what is the rationale behind it? Because you type "what happen" in Google and you get a million (literally) hits. |
| agree |
Jack Doughty
: "What happen" is a slang form, wrong but often used; but sometimes you have to translate in a way that reflects such wrong usage.
1 hr
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Thank you Jack, that is so true!
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Peter Skipp
: "Wha'appen?" is a London West Indian _greeting_. "What's up?", "What's happening?", "How goes it?" are formulaic half-greeting-half-questions. "What happened" is a question to clarify events. "What's happened" is a question immediately after an event.
4 hrs
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Thank you, Peter. Yes, yes and yes!
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| agree |
Sébastien GUITTENY
8 hrs
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Thank you, penfriend.
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| agree |
Ildiko Santana
: Never ask 'what happen'. Period. :)
9 hrs
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Thank you, ildiko. Absolutely!
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| agree |
Maria Fokin
9 hrs
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Thank you, Maria.
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worked for int. orgs (IMF, OAS, IDB)
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, German to English
What happened?
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Note added at 6 mins (2010-02-26 06:12:11 GMT)
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or: What went on?
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Note added at 8 mins (2010-02-26 06:14:38 GMT)
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or: What got to you? (freer)
| Hi, David. Thanks again; I really appreciate your help. So when is one supposed to ask "what happen" in present tense? |
| agree |
Stephanie Ezrol
5 hrs
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| agree |
Sébastien GUITTENY
8 hrs
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| agree |
Tina Vonhof (X)
: 'What happen' is grammatically wrong period.
8 hrs
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| agree |
Ildiko Santana
: Never ask 'what happen'. Period. :)
9 hrs
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| agree |
JaneTranslates
: You can ask "what's happening," but never "what happen." You can also ask "What happens (if someone sticks a pin into an inflated balloon)." "What" takes a singular verb; "happen" is plural.
11 hrs
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Spain
20 years producing 100% natural English
Native in: English (Variant: British)
Works in: English, French to English
what happened / what's happened / what's happening
I really don't understand where "what happen" comes from. The "s" on the 3rd person singular of the present tense is something that's taught in the first few lessons. You will find millions of "what happens" on the internet - what happens when/if you do something eg what happens when water reaches 100%C? - It boils.
The three answers I have given are all common. They refer to the following:
What happened? in the past (past simple)
What's happened? ('s = has, not is) in the past to make you sad/angry now (present perfect simple)
What's happening? now that's making you sad/angry (present continuous).
You could also use "what's been happening" - this is the present perfect continuous, which concentrates more on an action (eg my life's falling apart), rather than an event (eg my spouse left me)
But then again, as it's speech I wouldn't use the verb to happen at all! We'd say: What's up? What's the matter?
| agree |
Ildiko Santana
: Now that the asker wants to use present tense (see below), 'what's happening' would also work. Just don't ever say 'what happen'. Period. :) // Yes. Actually, "what's happening" is more like saying "how's it going" (ever seen Office Space, the comedy? :)
7 hrs
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Thanks. 'What's happening' for present tense usage works OK, though I prefer "What's the matter?" in this context
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Italy
Texts with zest by a Chartered Linguist
Native in: English (Variants: UK, British)
Works in: Italian to English, English
Discussion
Literally: "what happened?" Comes from some Japanese video game in a poor English translation.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=what happen
alternatively, when spoken fast the -ed at the end of "happened" is often not clearly said/heard. trying to write a conversation like that down results in "what happen" instead of the intended "what happened"
either way, whatever the origin, it is definitely slang and as mentioned before, not correct english, no matter how many times people write it down :-)
just as getting 190 million hits for "what you doing?" does not make it proper english
Basic grammar. Asking "what happen" would be like asking "what be"
Regards!