befall
- v. 降临, 发生(于)
- Definition
- v. to happen to someone, especially something bad
- Example
- No one knew what disaster might befall the small village.
- 没有人知道这个小村庄将会遭遇什么灾难。
Synonyms & Differences 近义词辨析
Compared meaning: something happening or befalling someone (verb).
比较义项：（某事）发生，降临到某人身上（动词）。
- happen
Neutral, everyday word for any event occurring; works for good, bad, or trivial things; used constantly in speech and writing with no special tone.
中性、日常用词，可用于描述任何发生的事情，无论好坏或大小事；口语和书面语中都极为常用，没有特殊语气。
I don't know exactly when the accident happened.
我不知道那场事故究竟是什么时候发生的。
- befall 本词
Formal, literary word almost always used for misfortune or tragedy happening to a person or place; rarely used in everyday conversation.
书面、文学化用词，几乎只用于不幸或灾难降临到某人或某地身上；日常口语中很少使用。
A terrible tragedy befell the family that winter.
那年冬天，一场可怕的灾难降临到这家人身上。
Both words can mean something happens. Happen is plain and neutral, used for almost anything. Befall is literary and formal, used mainly for something bad happening to a person or place, and is rare in speech. This does not compare happen's sense of 'by chance'.
这两个词都可以表示事情“发生”，但 happen 是最普通、最中性的说法，几乎什么事都能用；befall 则专指降临到某人或某地的（通常是不好的）事情，书面语气很重，日常口语很少用。此处不比较 happen 的“恰巧”这一层含义（即副词性的 happen to do 结构）。