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SPANISH VERB

ocurrir

to happen

  • #53 most used
  • Regular -ir verb
  • Gerund: ocurriendo
  • Past participle: ocurrido

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

  1. yo I happen
  2. tú you happen
  3. usted, él, ella he/she happens
  4. nosotros we happen
  5. vosotros Spain you all happen
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they happen

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

  1. yo I happened
  2. tú you happened
  3. usted, él, ella he/she happened
  4. nosotros we happened
  5. vosotros Spain you all happened
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they happened

Imperfect

Pretérito imperfecto · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. yo I used to happen
  2. tú you used to happen
  3. usted, él, ella he/she used to happen
  4. nosotros we used to happen
  5. vosotros Spain you all used to happen
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they used to happen

Future

Futuro · plans and promises; in speech, “voy a hablar” is just as common

  1. yo I will happen
  2. tú you will happen
  3. usted, él, ella he/she will happen
  4. nosotros we will happen
  5. vosotros Spain you all will happen
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they will happen

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

  1. yo I would happen
  2. tú you would happen
  3. usted, él, ella he/she would happen
  4. nosotros we would happen
  5. vosotros Spain you all would happen
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they would happen

Present subjunctive

Presente de subjuntivo · wishes, doubts, “que …”

  1. yo (that) I happen
  2. tú (that) you happen
  3. usted, él, ella (that) he/she happen
  4. nosotros (that) we happen
  5. vosotros Spain (that) you all happen
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (that) they happen

Past subjunctive

Imperfecto de subjuntivo · “if I were”, “si …”

  1. yo (if) I happened
  2. tú (if) you happened
  3. usted, él, ella (if) he/she happened
  4. nosotros (if) we happened
  5. vosotros Spain (if) you all happened
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (if) they happened

How to use ocurrir

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    ¿Qué ocurre aquí, por qué hay tanta gente?

    What's going on here, why are there so many people?

  2. Past

    El accidente ocurrió anoche cerca de mi casa.

    The accident happened last night near my house.

  3. Imperfect

    Antes no ocurrían estas cosas en el barrio.

    These things didn't use to happen in the neighborhood.

  4. Future

    No te preocupes, no ocurrirá nada malo.

    Don't worry, nothing bad will happen.

  5. Conditional

    ¿Qué ocurriría si perdemos el último tren?

    What would happen if we miss the last train?

  6. Present subjunctive

    Espero que no ocurra otro apagón esta noche.

    I hope another blackout doesn't happen tonight.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Nadie esperaba que ocurriera algo así en la boda.

    Nobody expected something like that to happen at the wedding.

Good to know

  • "Se me ocurre" is an idea coming to mind: "se me ocurrió una idea".

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: regular -ir verb.