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Conjugation Chart of “Ocurrir” (to happen) in the Imperfect Tense

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Understanding the Imperfect Tense of “Ocurrir”

The Imperfect Tense of ocurrir is used to describe ongoing or repeated events in the past. While this verb is typically used impersonally in the third person, you can use it in other contexts as well. For example, Ocurría que siempre llegaba tarde a la oficina. (It used to happen that I always arrived late to the office.)

Ocurrir is a regular -ir verb, so its conjugation in the Imperfect Tense follows the regular pattern for this verb type.

How to Use Ocurrir in the Imperfect Tense

The imperfect tense of ocurrir is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past.

To happen or occur: For example, Ocurría que siempre llegaba tarde a la oficina. (It would happen that he was always late to the office.)

To come to mind: For example, No me ocurría qué decir en ese momento. (I couldn’t think of what to say at that moment.)

To experience (colloquial): For example, ¿Qué te ocurría anoche? Estabas muy raro. (What was up with you last night? You were acting really weird.)

Real Life Examples of Ocurrir in the Imperfect Tense

Los accidentes ocurrían con frecuencia en esa curva peligrosa de la carretera. (Accidents used to happen frequently at that dangerous curve in the road.)

Las mejores ideas me ocurrían cuando estaba a punto de dormir. (The best ideas would come to me when I was about to sleep.)

Los temblores ocurrían cada vez con menos frecuencia en la región. (The tremors used to occur less and less frequently in the region.)

Las fiestas siempre ocurrían los fines de semana en casa de mi tía. (The parties always happened on weekends at my aunt’s house.)

Muchas cosas raras ocurrían en esa casa vieja durante la noche. (Many strange things used to happen in that old house during the night.)

Las reuniones familiares ocurrían cada domingo sin falta. (Family gatherings would occur every Sunday without fail.)

Los apagones ocurrían durante la temporada de lluvias. (Power outages used to occur during the rainy season.)

Las protestas ocurrían frente al edificio del gobierno todos los meses. (The protests used to happen in front of the government building every month.)

Los malentendidos ocurrían por falta de comunicación clara. (Misunderstandings would occur due to lack of clear communication.)

Las mejores ventas ocurrían durante la temporada navideña. (The best sales used to happen during the Christmas season.)

Los encuentros casuales ocurrían siempre en el café de la esquina. (The casual encounters would always happen at the corner café.)

Los milagros ocurrían cuando menos los esperábamos. (Miracles would happen when we least expected them.)

Las celebraciones más grandes ocurrían durante el carnaval. (The biggest celebrations used to take place during carnival.)

Los cambios de clima ocurrían de manera muy repentina en esa región. (Weather changes used to occur very suddenly in that region.)

Las pérdidas de señal ocurrían cada vez que pasábamos por el túnel. (Signal losses would occur every time we passed through the tunnel.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Ocurrir (to happen) in the Imperfect Tense (Latin American Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Latin American Spanish. For Castilian Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Imperfect tense is also known as the Past Imperfect, Descriptive Past, Past Progressive, or Imperfect Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Imperfecto, Copretérito, Imperfecto de Indicativo, or Pasado Descriptivo in Spanish.