Ocurrir Conjugation | How to Conjugate Ocurrir in Spanish

Ocurrir means mainly “to happen / occur” and, pronominally, “to occur to someone.” You will learn its regular -IR morphology while distinguishing its full reference paradigm from its common third-person uses.

Ocurrir conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Regular IR. Linguistically, ocurrir is morphologically regular, but RAE states that the everyday senses “to happen” and pronominal “to occur to someone” are used only in non-finite forms and third-person forms. The full paradigm exists for other senses.

Ocurrir gerund, past participle, and infinitive

The infinitive names the verb, the gerund supports progressive constructions, and the past participle combines with haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — in compound forms. The participle ocurrido remains invariant in those compounds.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	ocurrir	to occur / happen
Gerund	ocurriendo	occurring / happening
Past participle	ocurrido	occurred / happened

Ocurrir meaning and essential uses

The central modern sense is “to happen / occur”: Ocurrió un accidente. — “An accident happened.” The event is the grammatical subject, so third-person singular and plural forms dominate: ocurre / ocurren — “it happens / they occur.”

For an idea that suddenly comes to mind, Spanish normally uses the pronominal experiencer pattern ocurrírsele algo a alguien: Se me ocurrió una idea. — “An idea occurred to me / I had an idea.” RAE explicitly restricts this sense to non-finite and third-person forms.

Ocurrir conjugation pattern

Morphologically, ocurrir follows the regular -IR pattern: ocurro, ocurre, ocurrimos; ocurrí, ocurrió, ocurrieron; and ocurra, ocurriera, ocurriere. The gerund is ocurriendo and the participle is ocurrido.

Usage is the critical constraint. Do not treat first- and second-person rows as ordinary equivalents of English “happen.” In the common event and idea senses, use an event or idea as a third-person subject; the other personal forms belong to rarer meanings recorded by RAE.

Ocurrir indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Ocurrir present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use it for current situations, habits, facts, and contextually near-future reference. RAE lists the complete personal paradigm, but the everyday senses “to happen” and pronominal “to occur to someone” are restricted to non-finite and third-person use.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	ocurro	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Tú — you, singular informal	ocurres	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ocurre	it occurs / happens; he / she appeals or resorts to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you appeal or resort to an authority (formal, rarer personal sense)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	ocurrimos	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	ocurrís	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	ocurren	they occur / happen; they appeal or resort to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you appeal or resort to an authority (plural, rarer personal sense)

• Ocurre algo extraño cada noche. — Something strange happens every night.

Ocurrir preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use it for completed or bounded past events. RAE lists the complete personal paradigm, but the everyday senses “to happen” and pronominal “to occur to someone” are restricted to non-finite and third-person use.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	ocurrí	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Tú — you, singular informal	ocurriste	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ocurrió	it occurred / happened; he / she appealed or resorted to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you appealed or resorted to an authority (formal, rarer personal sense)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	ocurrimos	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	ocurristeis	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	ocurrieron	they occurred / happened; they appealed or resorted to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you appealed or resorted to an authority (plural, rarer personal sense)

• Ayer ocurrió un problema inesperado. — Yesterday an unexpected problem occurred.

Ocurrir imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use it for habitual, descriptive, background, or ongoing past situations. RAE lists the complete personal paradigm, but the everyday senses “to happen” and pronominal “to occur to someone” are restricted to non-finite and third-person use.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	ocurría	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Tú — you, singular informal	ocurrías	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ocurría	it used to occur / was happening; he / she used to appeal or resort to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you used to appeal or resort to an authority (formal, rarer personal sense)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	ocurríamos	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	ocurríais	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	ocurrían	they used to occur / were happening; they used to appeal or resort to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you used to appeal or resort to an authority (plural, rarer personal sense)

• Antes ocurrían más errores en este proceso. — More errors used to occur in this process.

Ocurrir present progressive

Present progressive — This verbal periphrasis focuses on an action or process in progress. Form it with present estar — “to be” — plus ocurriendo — “occurring / happening.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	estoy ocurriendo	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Tú — you, singular informal	estás ocurriendo	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	está ocurriendo	it is occurring / happening; he / she is appealing or resorting to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you are appealing or resorting to an authority (formal, rarer personal sense)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	estamos ocurriendo	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	estáis ocurriendo	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	están ocurriendo	they are occurring / happening; they are appealing or resorting to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you are appealing or resorting to an authority (plural, rarer personal sense)

• Está ocurriendo algo importante. — Something important is happening.

Ocurrir near future conjugation

Near future — This verbal periphrasis expresses an intention, plan, or expected event. Form it with present ir — “to go” — plus a — “to” — and ocurrir.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	voy a ocurrir	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Tú — you, singular informal	vas a ocurrir	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	va a ocurrir	it is going to occur / happen; he / she is going to appeal or resort to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you are going to appeal or resort to an authority (formal, rarer personal sense)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	vamos a ocurrir	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vais a ocurrir	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	van a ocurrir	they are going to occur / happen; they are going to appeal or resort to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you are going to appeal or resort to an authority (plural, rarer personal sense)

• Va a ocurrir un cambio pronto. — A change is going to happen soon.

Ocurrir future tense conjugation

Simple future (el futuro simple) — Use it for future reference and, where useful, probability. RAE lists the complete personal paradigm, but the everyday senses “to happen” and pronominal “to occur to someone” are restricted to non-finite and third-person use.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	ocurriré	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Tú — you, singular informal	ocurrirás	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ocurrirá	it will occur / happen; he / she will appeal or resort to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you will appeal or resort to an authority (formal, rarer personal sense)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	ocurriremos	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	ocurriréis	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	ocurrirán	they will occur / happen; they will appeal or resort to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you will appeal or resort to an authority (plural, rarer personal sense)

• Ocurrirá una reunión extraordinaria si es necesario. — An extraordinary meeting will occur if necessary.

Ocurrir conditional conjugation

Conditional (el condicional simple) — Use it for hypothetical outcomes, softened statements, or related conditional meanings. RAE lists the complete personal paradigm, but the everyday senses “to happen” and pronominal “to occur to someone” are restricted to non-finite and third-person use.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	ocurriría	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Tú — you, singular informal	ocurrirías	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ocurriría	it would occur / happen; he / she would appeal or resort to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you would appeal or resort to an authority (formal, rarer personal sense)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	ocurriríamos	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	ocurriríais	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	ocurrirían	they would occur / happen; they would appeal or resort to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you would appeal or resort to an authority (plural, rarer personal sense)

• Ocurriría lo mismo con otro sistema. — The same thing would happen with another system.

Ocurrir present perfect conjugation

Present perfect (el pretérito perfecto compuesto) — Use it for completed events connected to a present reference frame; regional distribution varies. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle ocurrido.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	he ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Tú — you, singular informal	has ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ha ocurrido	it has occurred / happened; he / she has appealed or resorted to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you have appealed or resorted to an authority (formal, rarer personal sense)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hemos ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habéis ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	han ocurrido	they have occurred / happened; they have appealed or resorted to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you have appealed or resorted to an authority (plural, rarer personal sense)

• Ha ocurrido un error. — An error has occurred.

Ocurrir past perfect conjugation

Past perfect (el pretérito pluscuamperfecto) — Use it for an event completed before another past reference point. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle ocurrido.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	había ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Tú — you, singular informal	habías ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	había ocurrido	it had occurred / happened; he / she had appealed or resorted to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you had appealed or resorted to an authority (formal, rarer personal sense)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habíamos ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habíais ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habían ocurrido	they had occurred / happened; they had appealed or resorted to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you had appealed or resorted to an authority (plural, rarer personal sense)

• Ya había ocurrido algo parecido. — Something similar had already happened.

Ocurrir future perfect conjugation

Future perfect (el futuro perfecto) — Use it for an event expected to be completed before a future reference point. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle ocurrido.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habré ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Tú — you, singular informal	habrás ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habrá ocurrido	it will have occurred / happened; he / she will have appealed or resorted to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you will have appealed or resorted to an authority (formal, rarer personal sense)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habremos ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habréis ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrán ocurrido	they will have occurred / happened; they will have appealed or resorted to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you will have appealed or resorted to an authority (plural, rarer personal sense)

• Para entonces habrán ocurrido varios cambios. — By then several changes will have occurred.

Ocurrir conditional perfect conjugation

Conditional perfect (el condicional compuesto) — Use it for a hypothetical completed outcome. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle ocurrido.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habría ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Tú — you, singular informal	habrías ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habría ocurrido	it would have occurred / happened; he / she would have appealed or resorted to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you would have appealed or resorted to an authority (formal, rarer personal sense)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habríamos ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habríais ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrían ocurrido	they would have occurred / happened; they would have appealed or resorted to an authority in a rarer personal sense; you would have appealed or resorted to an authority (plural, rarer personal sense)

• Habría ocurrido de todos modos. — It would have happened anyway.

Ocurrir subjunctive conjugations

Ocurrir present subjunctive conjugation

Present subjunctive (el presente de subjuntivo) — Use it in subordinate environments involving wishes, influence, emotion, doubt or denial, evaluation, necessity, possibility, or non-specific reference. RAE lists the complete personal paradigm, but the everyday senses “to happen” and pronominal “to occur to someone” are restricted to non-finite and third-person use.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	ocurra	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Tú — you, singular informal	ocurras	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ocurra	that it occur / happen; that he / she appeal or resort to an authority in a rarer personal sense; that you appeal or resort to an authority (formal, rarer personal sense)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	ocurramos	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	ocurráis	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	ocurran	that they occur / happen; that they appeal or resort to an authority in a rarer personal sense; that you appeal or resort to an authority (plural, rarer personal sense)

• Espero que no ocurra ningún problema. — I hope no problem occurs.

Ocurrir imperfect subjunctive conjugation

Imperfect subjunctive (el imperfecto de subjuntivo) — The main table uses the -ra series. The accepted -se series is also valid in many contexts and is demonstrated after the table. RAE lists the complete personal paradigm, but the everyday senses “to happen” and pronominal “to occur to someone” are restricted to non-finite and third-person use.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	ocurriera	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Tú — you, singular informal	ocurrieras	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ocurriera	that it occurred / happened; that he / she appealed or resorted to an authority in a rarer personal sense; that you appealed or resorted to an authority (formal, rarer personal sense)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	ocurriéramos	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	ocurrierais	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	ocurrieran	that they occurred / happened; that they appealed or resorted to an authority in a rarer personal sense; that you appealed or resorted to an authority (plural, rarer personal sense)

• Era posible que ocurrieran nuevos errores. — It was possible that new errors would occur.
• Temían que ocurriese otra interrupción. — They feared that another interruption might occur.

Ocurrir future subjunctive conjugation

Future subjunctive (el futuro de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. It survives mainly in formal, legal, proverbial, literary, or historical contexts. RAE lists the complete personal paradigm, but the everyday senses “to happen” and pronominal “to occur to someone” are restricted to non-finite and third-person use.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	ocurriere	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Tú — you, singular informal	ocurrieres	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ocurriere	if / when it should occur / happen; if / when he / she should appeal or resort to an authority in a rarer personal sense; if / when you should appeal or resort to an authority (formal, rarer personal sense)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	ocurriéremos	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	ocurriereis	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	ocurrieren	if / when they should occur / happen; if / when they should appeal or resort to an authority in a rarer personal sense; if / when you should appeal or resort to an authority (plural, rarer personal sense)

• Si ocurriere una emergencia, deberá activarse el protocolo. — If an emergency should occur, the protocol must be activated.

Ocurrir present perfect subjunctive conjugation

Present perfect subjunctive (el pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it when a completed event appears inside a present- or future-oriented subjunctive environment. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle ocurrido.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	haya ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Tú — you, singular informal	hayas ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	haya ocurrido	that it has occurred / happened; that he / she has appealed or resorted to an authority in a rarer personal sense; that you have appealed or resorted to an authority (formal, rarer personal sense)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hayamos ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hayáis ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hayan ocurrido	that they have occurred / happened; that they have appealed or resorted to an authority in a rarer personal sense; that you have appealed or resorted to an authority (plural, rarer personal sense)

• Me alegra que no haya ocurrido nada grave. — I am glad that nothing serious happened.

Ocurrir past perfect subjunctive conjugation

Past perfect subjunctive (el pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) — The main table uses hubiera; hubiese is an accepted auxiliary alternative in many contexts and is demonstrated after the table. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle ocurrido.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiera ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieras ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiera ocurrido	that it had occurred / happened; that he / she had appealed or resorted to an authority in a rarer personal sense; that you had appealed or resorted to an authority (formal, rarer personal sense)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéramos ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubierais ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieran ocurrido	that they had occurred / happened; that they had appealed or resorted to an authority in a rarer personal sense; that you had appealed or resorted to an authority (plural, rarer personal sense)

• Si hubiera ocurrido antes, habríamos reaccionado de otra manera. — If it had happened earlier, we would have reacted differently.
• Si hubiese ocurrido otro incidente, habría constado en el informe. — If another incident had occurred, it would have appeared in the report.

Ocurrir future perfect subjunctive conjugation

Future perfect subjunctive (el futuro perfecto de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. Treat it as a formal or historical reference form, not an everyday conversational target. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle ocurrido.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiere ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieres ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiere ocurrido	if / when it should have occurred / happened; if / when he / she should have appealed or resorted to an authority in a rarer personal sense; if / when you should have appealed or resorted to an authority (formal, rarer personal sense)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéremos ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubiereis ocurrido	reference personal form; not the normal everyday “happen / occur to someone” use
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieren ocurrido	if / when they should have occurred / happened; if / when they should have appealed or resorted to an authority in a rarer personal sense; if / when you should have appealed or resorted to an authority (plural, rarer personal sense)

• Si hubieren ocurrido cambios, deberán documentarse. — If changes should have occurred, they must be documented.

Ocurrir imperative and commands

Commands address another person directly. Spanish uses different morphological sources by person and polarity; the nosotros/nosotras row is a present-subjunctive form used with exhortative “let’s…” value.

Ocurrir affirmative commands

Restricted in the everyday senses. RAE records an imperative paradigm, but “to happen” and pronominal “to occur to someone” do not behave as ordinary command meanings. These forms belong to rarer senses such as resorting or appealing to an authority and should be treated as reference forms.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	ocurre	appeal / resort to an authority (rare/formal sense)
Usted — you, singular formal	ocurra	appeal / resort to an authority (rare/formal sense) (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	ocurramos	let’s appeal / resort to an authority (rare/formal sense)
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	ocurrid	appeal / resort to an authority (rare/formal sense) (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	ocurran	appeal / resort to an authority (rare/formal sense) (plural)

• Ocurre a la autoridad competente. — Appeal to the competent authority. (rare/formal non-event sense)

Ocurrir negative commands

Restricted in the everyday senses. The negative forms are morphologically valid, but direct negative commands do not belong to the normal “happen / occur to someone” use. Interpret this table through the rarer personal senses.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no ocurras	do not appeal / resort to an authority (rare/formal sense)
Usted — you, singular formal	no ocurra	do not appeal / resort to an authority (rare/formal sense) (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no ocurramos	let’s not appeal / resort to an authority (rare/formal sense)
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no ocurráis	do not appeal / resort to an authority (rare/formal sense) (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no ocurran	do not appeal / resort to an authority (rare/formal sense) (plural)

• No ocurras a otra autoridad sin revisar antes el procedimiento. — Do not appeal to another authority without first reviewing the procedure. (rare/formal non-event sense)

Common constructions with Ocurrir

These patterns show sentence frames that materially affect how the target verb is used.

• ocurrir + event as subject. — for an event to happen / occur.
• se me / te / le ocurre + idea. — an idea occurs to me / you / him or her.
• ocurrir a una autoridad. — to resort / appeal to an authority, a rare or formal sense.

Example sentences with Ocurrir

These examples reinforce the target verb across useful forms and contexts already taught in the lesson.

• ¿Qué ocurrió ayer? — What happened yesterday?
• Se me ocurrió una idea. — An idea occurred to me / I had an idea.
• No sé qué va a ocurrir. — I do not know what is going to happen.
• Están ocurriendo muchos cambios. — Many changes are happening.
• Espero que no ocurra otra vez. — I hope it does not happen again.
• Lo ocurrido quedó registrado. — What happened was recorded.

Regional and usage notes for Ocurrir

The core tables retain tú, usted, vosotros/vosotras, and ustedes for project comparability. Voseo changes some second-person singular forms in regions where vos — “you, singular informal” — is used.

• Vos ocurrís aparece como forma personal regular, pero no es la forma normal para el sentido cotidiano de “suceder”. — Ocurrís exists as a regular personal form, but it is not the normal form for the everyday meaning “to happen.”
• Ocurrí a la autoridad competente. — Appeal to the competent authority. (affirmative vos form in a rare/formal sense)

Ocurrir is easy morphologically but easy to misuse syntactically. For “happen” and “occur to someone,” prioritize third-person and non-finite forms; treat the remaining personal paradigm as reference for the verb’s rarer senses.