as it happens/happened

[kadioguy]

[...]
"Los Angeles" alone is never used to refer to the county, which is always called "Los Angeles County" or "LA County".

I just got back from there on Saturday. As it happens, I was staying in a house in Los Angeles whose mailing address, along with the others in the neighborhood, is in the city of Santa Monica.

a. As it happens
b. As it happened

Are both OK here? I looked it up at https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/happen#happen_idmg_2

If that's true, why is (a) correct? Wasn't it in the past?

 

[GoesStation]

a. As it happens
b. As it happened

Are both OK here? I looked it up at https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/happen#happen_idmg_2

If that's true, why is (a) correct? Isn't it in the past?

The present simple is correct. I stayed there in the past, but I was telling you about it in the present.

 

[Tdol]

It's a present comment about something in the past.

 

[kadioguy]

a. As it happens
b. As it happened

So (a) is a present comment about something in the past, while (b) is also correct but means something a little different, which is "it happened by chance that", as in "As it happened (= it happened by chance that), I was staying in a house in Los Angeles whose mailing address".

Do I understand correctly?

 

[GoesStation]

So (a) is a present comment about something in the past, while (b) is also correct but means something a little different, which is "it happened by chance that", as in "As it happened (= it happened by chance that), I was staying in a house in Los Angeles whose mailing address".

Do I understand correctly?

I guess so. "As it happens" is an idiom, though. It means "something that is true by chance". Only the present simple works in my sentence.

 

[kadioguy]

Only the present simple works in my sentence.

I don't understand this part. For me, both work but mean things in a different way:

a. As it happens: a present comment about something in the past.

b. As it happened: it happened by chance that.

You say, "Only the present simple works in my sentence" - is this because what you intended to emphasize is more about "a present comment about something in the past", rather than "it happened by chance that"?

 

[GoesStation]

The present simple is required because I'm remarking about the situation in the present. If I were narrating a past remark, I'd use the past simple: I was strolling near the beach when I saw the TV star Ted Danson. As it happened, I'd just watched one of his shows the night before.

 

[emsr2d2]

The present simple is required because I'm remarking about the situation in the present. If I were narrating a past remark, I'd use the past simple: I was strolling near the beach when I saw the TV star Ted Danson. As it happened, I'd just watched one of his shows the night before.

That's understandable but the simple fact is that native speakers invariably use "As it happens" regardless of when the thing being discussed occurred (or will occur).

As it happens, I was there the night he was killed.
As it happens, I'm doing my homework right now.
As it happens, I'll be at the same conference as you in New York next month.

It is simply a different way of saying "Coincidentally".

 

[GoesStation]

That's understandable but the simple fact is that native speakers invariably use "As it happens" regardless of when the thing being discussed occurred (or will occur).

I'd say "usually". There are times when the past simple is also suitable, as in my post about the TV star.

 

[jutfrank]

I think kadioguy should think of as it happens as a fixed phrase, used as a discourse marker.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/as-it-happens

 

[GoesStation]

I think kadioguy should think of as it happens as a fixed phrase, used as a discourse marker.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/as-it-happens

It's worth noting that the Collins example uses the past simple. As in my little dialog, this tells us that the surprise happened at the time of the action, which was in the past, rather than the time of the narration, which is in the present.

Here's the example:

She called Amy to see if she had any idea of her son's whereabouts. As it happened, Amy did.

 

[Tdol]

Neanderthals, as it happens, painted cave art.