Turned out vs happens to be

[zaghum]

Hi,
I am confused between "Turn out" and "Happens to be".In the following example which should be used.

1a)I got/reached to the man's house and he turned to be my brother.

1b) I got/reached to the man's house and he happened to be my brother.

2) The guy "turned out/happened to be" smarter than.

3) My perception was that smoking makes you look cool and I "turned out/happened to be" wrong.

4) The same guy who was accusing us, "turned out to be/happened to be" the thief.

Thanks.

 

[probus]

I think they are equivalent.

 

[Rover_KE]

1a) and 1b) have to be 'I reached' or 'I got to the man's house and he turned out to be/happened to be my brother'.

2) is incomplete.

3) is OK

Delete the comma in 4).

 

[Matthew Wai]

2) is incomplete.

Would it be complete if 'expected' was added after 'than'?

Not a teacher.

 

[Rover_KE]

Yes.

 

[emsr2d2]

You could also add "me" (and various other things) at the end.

The guy turned out to be smarter than me.
The guy turned out to be smarter than anyone I know.
The guy turned out to be smarter than expected.

 

[Matthew Wai]

'The guy turned out to be smarter than before.'
I think 'turned out' cannot be replaced with 'happened' here. Am I right or wrong?
Not a teacher.

 

[emsr2d2]

I have to say that I don't find "turn out [to be]" and "happen [to be]" interchangeable.

 

[Grumpy]

I have to say that I don't find "turn out [to be]" and "happen [to be]" interchangeable.

I agree with emsr2d2 - depending (as always) on the context. In certain circumstances, such as "If you happen to be in the area/if it turns out that you are in the area, then come and see me", then they are interchangeable. However, when dealing with past events, I feel that "happened [to be]" is a simple statement of a relevant fact which was previously not known, whereas "turned out [to be]" carries the connotation of something surprising/unexpected/serendipitous.

 

[probus]

In my opinion, "turns out" does not carry the connotation of something surprising/unexpected/serendipitous in contemporary AmE. It just means that after careful consideration of all the possibilities, one emerges or "turns out" to be the case.

 

[emsr2d2]

Would "I had been dating this guy for five months when, to my horror, he turned out to be my long-lost brother" not work in contemporary AmE then? That certainly denotes a surprising revelation in BrE.