ocurría

Ocurría is the third-person singular form of the Spanish verb ocurrir in the imperfect indicative. Ocurrir means to happen, to occur, or to take place. In the imperfect tense, ocurría is used to describe habitual, repeated, or background events in the past, or to set the scene in narrative discourse. For a completed past event, the preterite ocurrir form ocurriría? No, the simple past is ocurría for imperfect and ocurrió for the simple past, so in a completed past moment one would say "ocurrió."

Usage and nuances: the imperfect sense of ocurrir emphasizes ongoing or customary past events rather than a single, punctual occurrence. It often appears in clauses introduced by cuando or enquanto, or in descriptive passages. Example: "Cuando era niño, ocurría a menudo que llovía en agosto." Another example: "En esa época ocurría con frecuencia que los trenes llegaban tarde." In contrast, buscaría or deciría? Not relevant here; the key contrast is with ocurrir en pretérito simple: "Ayer ocurrió un incidente."

Etymology and related terms: ocurrir derives from Latin occurrere, meaning to meet or to happen. It is cognate with palabras like suceder and acontecer in Spanish. The imperfect forms, including ocurría, follow regular -ir verb conjugation patterns in the imperfect, with the accent on the í to indicate the standard stress.

Notes: Occurring primarily as a verb form, ocurría is not used as a standalone noun. It is common in formal and narrative Spanish, and appears across dialects as a normal grammatical construction.