What happened?
A slightly more formal way to ask 'What happened?'. 'Ocurrir' is a synonym for 'pasar'.
Another common and slightly more formal alternative, similar to '¿Qué ocurrió?'.
Means 'What has happened?'. Use this for very recent events that have a connection to the present moment.
Very informal, common in Mexico. It can mean 'What's up?' or be used to ask 'What happened?' when something seems off.
I see an ambulance. What happened?
I arrived late to the meeting. Can you explain to me what happened?
You don't look well. Are you okay? What happened?
Your brother is angry. What did you say to him? What happened?
'¿Qué pasó?' is the most common and universally understood phrase.
While '¿Qué pasó?' is used, '¿Qué ha pasado?' is very common for recent events, reflecting a general preference for the present perfect tense.
'¿Qué pasó?' is standard. The informal slang '¿Qué onda?' is extremely popular among friends.
In addition to '¿Qué pasó?', the informal phrase '¿Qué hubo?' (often shortened to '¿Quiubo?') is common and can mean both 'What's up?' and 'What happened?'.
'¿Qué pasó?' is the standard. It's often preceded by 'che', as in 'Che, ¿qué pasó?'.
Saying '¿Qué pasa?' instead of '¿Qué pasó?'. — '¿Qué pasa?' uses the present tense and means 'What is happening?' or 'What's wrong?'. To ask about a completed event in the past, you must use the past tense: '¿Qué pasó?'.
Forgetting the accent on 'pasó'. — Pronunciation is key. 'Paso' (PAH-so) means 'I pass' or 'a step'. 'Pasó' (pah-SOH) is the past tense 'it happened'. The written accent (tilde) tells you to stress the last syllable and changes the meaning entirely.
Using the wrong verb, like '¿Qué hizo?'. — 'Hacer' means 'to do/make'. So, '¿Qué hizo?' means 'What did he/she/you (formal) do?'. It asks about a person's action, not about an event that occurred.
Found this useful? Save it for later.