ocurrir

Ocurrir is a Spanish verb that means to occur, to happen, or to come to pass. It can describe events that take place, such as an accident or a meeting, as well as ideas or thoughts that appear in the mind. The pronominal form ocurrírsele a alguien, especially se me ocurrió, expresses that something occurred to that person—i.e., it came to mind for that person.

It is used mainly in intransitive constructions; the subject is the event or phenomenon. Example: “Ayer ocurrió un accidente en la autopista.” When referring to thoughts or ideas, Spanish often uses a reflexive construction: “Se me ocurrió una solución.” Other common forms include ocurrírsele a alguien or simply ocurrale a alguien in different contexts.

Conjugation: Ocurrir follows a regular pattern with some irregularities in certain forms. In the present indicative, the forms include ocurre (él/ella) and ocurren (ellos). The preterite is ocurrió; the imperfect is ocurría. The future is ocurrirá and the conditional is ocurriría. The present subjunctive is ocurra; the imperfect subjunctive can be ocurriera or ocurriese. The gerund is ocurriendo and the past participle is ocurrido.

Etymology and relation: the verb comes from Latin occurre, occurrere, meaning “to run to meet” or “to happen.” Ocurrir is related to verbs like suceder and pasar, which convey similar notions of events taking place. A key nuance is the distinction between ocurrir for events and ocurrirse to someone for ideas or thoughts arising in the mind.