ocurrir

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin occurrere (“appear, occur”), from ob + currō (“run”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /okuˈriɾ/ [o.kuˈriɾ]
• Rhymes: -iɾ
• Syllabification: o‧cu‧rrir

Verb

ocurrir (third-person only, third-person singular present ocurre, third-person singular preterite ocurrió, past participle ocurrido)

1. (impersonal) to happen, to occur

   Synonyms: pasar, suceder

2. (idiomatic, impersonal, reflexive) to come up with

   Se me ocurrió una idea.

   I came up with an idea.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of ocurrir (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			ocurrir
gerund			ocurriendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		ocurrido		ocurrida
		plural		ocurridos		ocurridas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	ocurro	ocurrestú ocurrísvos	ocurre	ocurrimos	ocurrís	ocurren
	imperfect	ocurría	ocurrías	ocurría	ocurríamos	ocurríais	ocurrían
	preterite	ocurrí	ocurriste	ocurrió	ocurrimos	ocurristeis	ocurrieron
	future	ocurriré	ocurrirás	ocurrirá	ocurriremos	ocurriréis	ocurrirán
	conditional	ocurriría	ocurrirías	ocurriría	ocurriríamos	ocurriríais	ocurrirían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	ocurra	ocurrastú ocurrásvos2	ocurra	ocurramos	ocurráis	ocurran
	imperfect (ra)	ocurriera	ocurrieras	ocurriera	ocurriéramos	ocurrierais	ocurrieran
	imperfect (se)	ocurriese	ocurrieses	ocurriese	ocurriésemos	ocurrieseis	ocurriesen
	future1	ocurriere	ocurrieres	ocurriere	ocurriéremos	ocurriereis	ocurrieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		ocurretú ocurrívos	ocurra	ocurramos	ocurrid	ocurran
	negative		no ocurras	no ocurra	no ocurramos	no ocurráis	no ocurran

¹Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of ocurrir

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive ocurrir	dative	ocurrirme	ocurrirte	ocurrirle, ocurrirse	ocurrirnos	ocurriros	ocurrirles, ocurrirse
	accusative	ocurrirme	ocurrirte	ocurrirlo, ocurrirla, ocurrirse	ocurrirnos	ocurriros	ocurrirlos, ocurrirlas, ocurrirse
with gerund ocurriendo	dative	ocurriéndome	ocurriéndote	ocurriéndole, ocurriéndose	ocurriéndonos	ocurriéndoos	ocurriéndoles, ocurriéndose
	accusative	ocurriéndome	ocurriéndote	ocurriéndolo, ocurriéndola, ocurriéndose	ocurriéndonos	ocurriéndoos	ocurriéndolos, ocurriéndolas, ocurriéndose
with informal second-person singular tú imperative ocurre	dative	ocúrreme	ocúrrete	ocúrrele	ocúrrenos	not used	ocúrreles
	accusative	ocúrreme	ocúrrete	ocúrrelo, ocúrrela	ocúrrenos	not used	ocúrrelos, ocúrrelas
with informal second-person singular vos imperative ocurrí	dative	ocurrime	ocurrite	ocurrile	ocurrinos	not used	ocurriles
	accusative	ocurrime	ocurrite	ocurrilo, ocurrila	ocurrinos	not used	ocurrilos, ocurrilas
with formal second-person singular imperative ocurra	dative	ocúrrame	not used	ocúrrale, ocúrrase	ocúrranos	not used	ocúrrales
	accusative	ocúrrame	not used	ocúrralo, ocúrrala, ocúrrase	ocúrranos	not used	ocúrralos, ocúrralas
with first-person plural imperative ocurramos	dative	not used	ocurrámoste	ocurrámosle	ocurrámonos	ocurrámoos	ocurrámosles
	accusative	not used	ocurrámoste	ocurrámoslo, ocurrámosla	ocurrámonos	ocurrámoos	ocurrámoslos, ocurrámoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative ocurrid	dative	ocurridme	not used	ocurridle	ocurridnos	ocurríos	ocurridles
	accusative	ocurridme	not used	ocurridlo, ocurridla	ocurridnos	ocurríos	ocurridlos, ocurridlas
with formal second-person plural imperative ocurran	dative	ocúrranme	not used	ocúrranle	ocúrrannos	not used	ocúrranles, ocúrranse
	accusative	ocúrranme	not used	ocúrranlo, ocúrranla	ocúrrannos	not used	ocúrranlos, ocúrranlas, ocúrranse

Related terms

• ocurrencia
• ocurrente

Further reading

• “ocurrir”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10