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Conjugation Chart

“Suceder” (to happen) in the Preterite (Past) Tense

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Understanding the Preterite (Past) Tense of “Suceder”

The preterite of suceder is used to express when something happened at a specific moment in the past. For example, “The accident happened yesterday” – “El accidente sucedió ayer.”

This is a regular -er verb in the preterite tense. While typically used in the third person singular form (sucedió), all forms exist for when you need to describe events happening to specific subjects.

How to Use Suceder in the Preterite (Past) Tense

The Preterite of suceder indicates specific events or occurrences in the past.

To happen/occur: Used for specific events that took place, for example Sucedió durante la noche (It happened during the night), or Todo sucedió muy rápido (Everything happened very quickly).

To follow/succeed: In formal contexts, refers to following in succession, for example Le sucedió en el cargo (They succeeded them in the position).

Real Life Examples of Suceder in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Todo sucedió muy rápido aquella noche. (Everything happened very quickly that night.)

¿Qué sucedió después del accidente? (What happened after the accident?)

Eso sucedió hace muchos años. (That happened many years ago.)

Nunca supimos qué sucedió realmente. (We never knew what really happened.)

Los eventos sucedieron en orden cronológico. (The events happened in chronological order.)

Todo sucedió según lo planeado. (Everything happened as planned.)

Algo extraño sucedió durante la reunión. (Something strange happened during the meeting.)

Los cambios sucedieron gradualmente. (The changes happened gradually.)

¿Cuándo sucedió el incidente? (When did the incident happen?)

La tragedia sucedió sin previo aviso. (The tragedy happened without warning.)

Me sucedió algo increíble ayer. (Something incredible happened to me yesterday.)

Los hechos sucedieron de manera diferente. (The events happened differently.)

Nada importante sucedió durante mi ausencia. (Nothing important happened during my absence.)

El milagro sucedió cuando menos lo esperábamos. (The miracle happened when we least expected it.)

Las cosas sucedieron por una razón. (Things happened for a reason.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Suceder (to happen) in the Preterite (Past) Tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

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

Synonyms

The Preterite tense is also known as the Simple Past, Past Simple, Definite Past, Absolute Past, or Past Tense Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Perfecto Simple, Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Simple, Pasado Simple, or Pretérito de Indicativo in Spanish.