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SPANISH VERB

suceder

to happen

  • #124 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Gerund: sucediendo
  • Past participle: sucedido

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 suceder

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

  1. Present

    Estas cosas suceden cuando viajas sin planear.

    These things happen when you travel without planning.

  2. Past

    Todo sucedió tan rápido que nadie entendió nada.

    Everything happened so fast that nobody understood anything.

  3. Imperfect

    En ese pueblo nunca sucedía nada interesante.

    Nothing interesting ever happened in that town.

  4. Future

    ¿Qué sucederá con el perro cuando te mudes?

    What will happen with the dog when you move?

  5. Conditional

    Eso no sucedería si leyeras las instrucciones.

    That wouldn't happen if you read the instructions.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Avísame en cuanto suceda algo nuevo.

    Let me know as soon as something new happens.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Temíamos que sucediera lo mismo del año pasado.

    We feared the same thing as last year would happen.

Good to know

  • "Suceder", "ocurrir" and "pasar" all mean to happen; "pasar" is the everyday one: "¿qué pasó?"

Verbs like this one

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