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Let's say I have given up my job and started drinking out of a sudden? Would be natural to say happen with? For example:

You quit your job, started drinking. Whatever happended with you?

In what context native English speakers would never say happen to?

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If you have been dismissed from your job, that is something that has happened to you (by the actions of somebody else).

If you quit your job for no apparent reason and begin to behave out of character, it could also be said that something has happened with you (changes in your mental state).

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  • In BrE we usually say, 'what(ever) happened to you', not 'what(ever) happened with you'. 'Happen with' appears mostly in sentences like, "It won't happen with him as president."
    – Old Brixtonian
    Feb 4, 2020 at 13:34
  • If you have been dismissed from your job, that is something that has happened to you (by the actions of somebody else). - but something could also happen with you by the actions of somebody else. For instance, You acted ugly, what happened with you? I'm just tired, you've been too hard on me lately.
    – user107943
    Feb 4, 2020 at 14:55
  • @Anatolii Well, I would class that as 'a change in mental state'! I didn't mean to imply that such changes don't have a cause.
    – Kate Bunting
    Feb 4, 2020 at 15:02
  • Let's say I have been scared and that is written all over my face. Would someone ask "what happened to you" or "what happened with your"?
    – Dmytro O'Hope
    Feb 4, 2020 at 18:50
  • Probably "What (has) happened to you?", assuming you have been scared by someone else or some incident you have witnessed.
    – Kate Bunting
    Feb 5, 2020 at 9:02

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