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Meaning & use

bound to happen

phrase·Everyday

Last updated

UK/ˌbaʊnd tə ˈhæpən/
US/ˌbaʊnd tə ˈhæpən/

Meanings

  1. phrasefixed phrase

    certain or very likely to happen, especially because of the situation

    Grammar: Used after be or seem: it was bound to happen, it seemed bound to happen. Do not add will before bound.

    Patterns

    • it is bound to happen
    • something was bound to happen
    • it seemed bound to happen

    With so many cars on that narrow road, an accident was bound to happen.

    They argued for months, so a split was bound to happen in the end.

    It was bound to happen sooner or later, and now it has.

  2. phraseidiominformal

    used to say that a result was natural or expected and not surprising

    Grammar: Often used as a comment on a past event: It was bound to happen.

    Patterns

    • it was bound to happen
    • that was bound to happen

    She forgot her keys again — it was bound to happen.

    The team lost after so many injuries; it was bound to happen.

Common combinations

it was bound to happen
It was bound to happen after all those warnings.
bound to happen sooner or later
A change like this was bound to happen sooner or later.
seem bound to happen
The deal seemed bound to happen, but it fell through.
bound to happen eventually
A crash was bound to happen eventually.

Synonyms and how they differ

inevitable
Inevitable is a more formal adjective meaning impossible to avoid; bound to happen is a conversational phrase with the same idea.
certain to happen
Certain to happen is a plain phrase with similar meaning, but bound to happen often suggests the result was expected because of the situation.

Opposites

unlikely to happenavoidable

Word family

bound adjective
certain to do something or certain to happen
bind verb
to tie or fasten; bound is also its past tense

Commonly confused: bound to happen or bound for? bound to happen or bond to?

bound to happen vs bound for

Bound for means traveling toward a place, as in a ship bound for New York; bound to happen means certain to happen.

bound to happen vs bond to

Bond to means to form a close connection with someone; bound to happen is about a future event.

Practice

After months of heavy rain, a flood in the valley ______.

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