到底是发生何事
“What exactly happened”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
又将孙貌杀死
“And then, Huiwu killed Sun Mao.”
到底是发生何事
“What exactly happened”
足以让孙貌丧命
“that cost Sun Mao his life?”
“Something huge must have happened to drive someone to murder him—what could it be?”
The usage of '何事' instead of '什么事' reflects classicized phrasing typical of historical or costume detective dramas.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
on earth; after all; what in the world
Placed before question words or verbs to demand an essential truth or express deep curiosity.
what has happened
A semi-formal or period-drama phrasing equivalent to modern Spoken Chinese '发生什么事'.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“What guy? What exactly happened?”
“what exactly happened?”
“What happened here?”
“How can they deny something that actually happened?”
“I need to know what exactly happened.”
“at the Prince of Duan's manor.”
“Did something happen?”
“what exactly happened?”
“What exactly happened, Officer?”
“Whatever happens in the city,”
“What is it?”
“Then what exactly happened back then?”
“What happened to you?”
“What crime did you commit?”
“on Funing Street in Guoshan District?”
“You want to know what happened, right?”
“Did something happen up ahead?”
“What exactly happened?”
“I'm sure something has happened to him.”
“What happened?”
“did anything happen?”
“What exactly went down?”
“What exactly happened?”
“what exactly happened?”
“and find out what happened”
“Has something major happened?”
“what happened?”