ocurrir imperfect tense conjugation
Ocurrir (to occur, happen) in the imperfect tense: ocurría, ocurrías, ocurría, ocurríamos, ocurríais, ocurrían.
Pretérito imperfecto Imperfect
| yo | |
|---|---|
| tú | |
| él/ella/usted | |
| nosotros | |
| vosotros | |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes |
ending regular · irr breaks the pattern · tap a form to hear it
When to use the imperfect tense
The imperfect (pretérito imperfecto) describes the past as background: habits (“used to”), ongoing actions (“was doing”), descriptions, age and time. “Cuando era niño, vivía en Sevilla.”
How it is formed
Regular endings: -ar → aba, abas, aba, ábamos, abais, aban; -er/-ir → ía, ías, ía, íamos, íais, ían. Only three verbs are irregular in the imperfect: ser (era), ir (iba) and ver (veía).
Ocurrir is regular here, so it is a good model for other verbs of the same class.
Read more: Preterite vs imperfect: when to use each
Ocurrir in a sentence
- Ocurre algo extraño aquí.Something strange is happening here.
- El accidente ocurrió ayer.The accident occurred yesterday.
Used like 'pasar'; typically only conjugated in third person.
FAQ
What is the imperfect tense of ocurrir?
Ocurrir in the Spanish imperfect tense: yo ocurría, tú ocurrías, él/ella/usted ocurría, nosotros ocurríamos, vosotros ocurríais, ellos/ellas/ustedes ocurrían.
Is ocurrir irregular in the imperfect tense?
No. In the imperfect tense ocurrir takes the regular endings for its verb class, so ocurría follows the same pattern as any regular verb.
When do you use the Spanish imperfect tense?
The imperfect (pretérito imperfecto) describes the past as background: habits (“used to”), ongoing actions (“was doing”), descriptions, age and time. “Cuando era niño, vivía en Sevilla.”
How is the imperfect tense formed?
Regular endings: -ar → aba, abas, aba, ábamos, abais, aban; -er/-ir → ía, ías, ía, íamos, íais, ían. Only three verbs are irregular in the imperfect: ser (era), ir (iba) and ver (veía).
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