ocurrir

to happen, to occur, to come to mind

o k u ˈr i ɾ

ocurr happen; occur + ir go

verb Common #7,362

to happen, to occur

SP: ¿Qué va a ocurrir anoche?

EN: What is going to happen last night?

to come to mind Often used with an indirect object pronoun: "se me ocurrir" is ungrammatical; idiomatic Spanish uses the conjugated form (e.g., "se me ocurrió").

SP: A veces puede ocurrir que una buena idea llegue de repente.

EN: Sometimes it can happen that a good idea suddenly arrives.

Conjugation of ocurrir

Indicative past

	Singular	Plural
Third	ocurrió	ocurrieron

Indicative present

	Singular	Plural
Third	ocurre	ocurren

Subjunctive present

	Singular	Plural
Third	ocurre	ocurren

Imperative

	Singular	Plural
Second	ocurre	—
Third	ocurra	—

ocurrir

Indicative future

	Singular	Plural
Third	ocurrirá	—

Subjunctive future

	Singular	Plural
Third	ocurrirá	—

Past

ocurrido

Conditional

	Singular	Plural
First	ocurriría	—
Third	ocurriría	—

Subjunctive imperfect

	Singular	Plural
First	ocurría	—
Third	ocurría	—

ocurriera

Indicative imperfect

	Singular	Plural
First	ocurría	—
Third	ocurría	—

Present

ocurriendo

Le prometo que no volverá a ocurrir.

I promise you it won't happen again.

Accidentes de tráfico suelen ocurrir en días de lluvia.

Traffic accidents often occur on rainy days.

Creo que es improbable que una situación como esta vuelva a ocurrir alguna vez.

I think it’s unlikely that a situation like this will ever happen again.

Acaba de ocurrir un accidente.

An accident has just occurred.

Sí, suele ocurrir.

Yes, it often happens.

— Roma. Ciudad abierta (1945)

Los terremotos pueden ocurrir en cualquier momento.

Earthquakes can happen at any time.

No puedo asegurar que vaya a ocurrir.

I can't guarantee that it will happen.

Tengo un presentimiento de que algo quizás podría ocurrir esta noche.

I have a feeling that something might happen tonight.

Siempre tendremos que ir con cuidado de no dejar que vuelva a ocurrir esto.

We’ll always have to be careful not to let this happen again.

No se me pudo ocurrir cómo hacerlo.

I couldn't think of how to do it.

Sólo a vos se te podía ocurrir algo tan hermoso.

Only you could have come up with something so beautiful.

— Diarios de motocicleta (2004)

Algo malo estaba a punto de ocurrir.

Something bad was about to happen.

Volverá a ocurrir.

It will happen again.

Tom dijo que no pensaba que eso fuera a ocurrir.

Tom said he didn't think that was going to happen.

Ni se te vaya a ocurrir decirle que yo te traje.

Don't even think about telling him I brought you here.

— Roma (2018)

Tuve un presentimiento de que algo agradable iba a ocurrir.

I had a feeling that something nice was going to happen.

Esto podría ocurrir en cualquier lugar.

This could happen anywhere.

Va a volver a ocurrir.

It’s going to happen again.

Señorita Hudson, esos milagros pueden ocurrir de vez en cuando.

Miss Hudson, those miracles can happen from time to time.

— Locuras de verano (1955)

Se me tiene que ocurrir algo.

I have to think of something.

— El cielo sobre Berlín (1987)

Se te tienen que ocurrir cosas nuevas.

You have to come up with new ideas.

Nunca permitiré que eso vuelva a ocurrir.

I will never let that happen again.

Para poder verte y hablar contigo, debe ocurrir un asesinato.

In order to see you and talk to you, a murder must occur.

— Decision to Leave (2022)

Me acaba de ocurrir algo.

Something just happened to me.

No parece que vaya a ocurrir pronto.

It doesn’t look like it’s going to happen anytime soon.

Esas cosas suelen ocurrir en las obras de teatro.

Those things usually happen in plays.

— Vivir (1952)

No se te vaya a ocurrir preguntarle nada personal.

Don't even think about asking them anything personal.

— Amores perros (2000)

Puede que esté a punto de ocurrir.

It may be about to happen.

— स्वदेस (2004)

Lo cual no suele ocurrir.

Which doesn't usually happen.

— Hasta que llegó su hora (1968)

Espero que no vuelva a ocurrir, ¿entendido?

I hope it doesn't happen again, okay?

— El regreso (2003)

No creo que eso tenga muchas oportunidades de ocurrir.

I don't think there's much chance of that happening.

Se me acaba de ocurrir.

I just thought of something.

— Una cuestión de tiempo (2013)

Sabía que esto iba a ocurrir.

I knew this was going to happen.

Os dije que podría ocurrir una desgracia, ¿no?

I told you a misfortune could happen, didn't I?

— Lagaan: Érase una vez en la India (2001)

Aquí suelen ocurrir cosas extrañas.

Strange things often happen here.

Tom dijo que nada de eso volverá a ocurrir.

Tom said that none of that will ever happen again.

Suele ocurrir.

It usually happens.

— Cinema Paradiso (1988)

No comprendo como ha podido ocurrir.

I don't understand how this could have happened.

— Encontré al diablo (2010)

Bien, ha vuelto a ocurrir.

Well, it's happened again.

— Malcolm X (1992)

Tom no cree que nada malo vaya a ocurrir.

Tom doesn't believe anything bad is going to happen.

No se puede predecir qué irá a ocurrir.

It is impossible to predict what will happen.

Yo sabía que podía ocurrir.

I knew it could happen.

Es triste que vuelva a ocurrir.

It's sad that it's happening again.

— Strangers: Capítulo 3 (2026)

Eso no volverá a ocurrir aquí.

That will not happen again here.

— La ola (2008)

Nadie te dice que vaya a ocurrir.

Nobody tells you it's going to happen.

Cómo ha podido ocurrir?

How could this have happened?

— Stalker (1979)

Eso es lo que acaba de ocurrir.

That's what just happened.

Se me acaba de ocurrir algo muy interesante.

I just had a very interesting idea.