Ocurrir means 'to happen' or 'to occur', and it is a regular -ir verb most often used in the third person, like its synonym pasar. ¿Qué ocurrió? (what happened?), ocurrió un accidente (an accident occurred). The reflexive ocurrírsele a alguien means 'to occur to someone / to have an idea': se me ocurre una idea (an idea occurs to me). Because narrating events is central to past-tense writing, ocurrir is a useful, slightly more formal alternative to pasar. As a regular -ir verb the conjugation is predictable.
Quick facts
Ocurrir (to happen) is a regular -ir verb.
Real sentences across different tenses — the kind of thing you'd actually say or write.
¿Qué ocurrió? (what happened?).
Ocurrió un accidente (an accident occurred).
Se me ocurre una idea (an idea occurs to me).
More formal than pasar.
Fixed expressions worth knowing — they come up in listening, reading and writing tasks.
Idiomatic expressions
ocurrir is a regular -ir verb — it follows the standard -ir pattern in every tense. That makes it a good one to drill: if you know ocurrir, you know the template for all regular -ir verbs.
Type conjugations from memory and get instant feedback. That's how you actually build the automatic recall the exam needs — not from reading tables.
Practice ocurrir now →Three questions, no account needed. Type the form, then press Enter or tap Check.
yo: ocurro, tú: ocurres, él: ocurre, nosotros: ocurrimos, vosotros: ocurrís, ellos: ocurren
The past participle is ocurrido (he ocurrido) and the gerund is ocurriendo (estoy ocurriendo).
Ocurrir is on the AQA and Eduqas GCSE Spanish vocabulary lists, but not on Edexcel.
Verbs that are easy to confuse with ocurrir or that behave like it.
Ocurrir is on the AQA and Eduqas GCSE Spanish vocabulary lists, but not on Edexcel. Compare the exam boards.
Written by Daniel Holmes for GCSE & A-Level Spanish students.