Breakdown of El resfriado a veces sucede durante el invierno.
a veces
sometimes
durante
during
el invierno
the winter
el resfriado
the cold
suceder
to happen
Questions & Answers about El resfriado a veces sucede durante el invierno.
Why is it El resfriado (masculine) and not La resfriada?
In Spanish, resfriado is a masculine noun referring to a common cold. Nouns in Spanish have grammatical gender, and resfriado is conventionally masculine. You wouldn’t change it to resfriada just because a woman has a cold; the word itself remains masculine regardless of who has it.
Can I use pasa or ocurre instead of sucede here?
Yes, in everyday speech you could say El resfriado a veces pasa durante el invierno or El resfriado a veces ocurre durante el invierno. They all mean “to happen,” but sucede is slightly more formal. In general, suceder, ocurrir, and pasar can often be used interchangeably in this context.
Why is a veces used here and where can it appear in the sentence?
A veces means “sometimes” or “at times,” indicating that the event doesn’t happen all the time. It can appear at different positions in the sentence. For instance, you could say A veces, el resfriado sucede durante el invierno for added emphasis, but the meaning remains the same.
What does durante convey as opposed to just using en?
Durante emphasizes the duration of the winter season, suggesting that the cold can happen at any point within that stretch of time. Using en would also be understandable (en el invierno), but it’s more direct and less focused on the ongoing period; durante highlights the idea of “throughout.”
Are there other words for resfriado?
Yes, you might encounter catarro in some regions, and in certain places in Spain, people might say constipado (though in Latin America, constipado can be misunderstood as “constipated”). The most universally understood word remains resfriado for a common cold.
More from this lesson
AI Language TutorTry it ↗
“How does verb conjugation work in Spanish?”
Spanish verbs change form based on the subject, tense, and mood. Regular verbs follow predictable patterns depending on whether they end in ‑ar, ‑er, or ‑ir. For example, "hablar" (to speak) becomes "hablo" (I speak), "hablas" (you speak), and "habla" (he/she speaks) in the present tense.
Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor
Start learning SpanishMaster Spanish — from El resfriado a veces sucede durante el invierno to fluency
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods.
- ✓ Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
- ✓ Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
- ✓ Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
- ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions