ocurríanvsocurrióWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“ocurrían” and “ocurrió” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#43,749
“ocurrían” frequency rank
#1,949
“ocurrió” frequency rank
45698
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ocurrían ocurrió
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de ocurrir. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de ocurrir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ocurrían and ocurrió apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
ocurrían
7 ch
ocurrió

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ocurrían ([okuˈriãn]) and ocurrió ([okuˈrjo]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45698, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ocurrían is recorded at frequency rank #43,749, classified as averb, pronounced [okuˈriãn]. ocurrió is at rank #1,949, tagged as averb, pronounced [okuˈrjo].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 45698, this pair ranks #129,937 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ocurrían vs ocurrió

Shared letters: coru. Private to "ocurrían": aní. Private to "ocurrió": .

"ocurrían" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVVC  ·  "ocurrió" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV

Frequency comparison

ocurrían#43,749
ocurrió#1,949

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ocurrían" and "ocurrió" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([okuˈriãn] versus [okuˈrjo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ocurrían" or "ocurrió"?
"ocurrió" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,949 in our Spanish list, against #43,749 for "ocurrían". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ocurrían vs ocurrió

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ocurrían” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list