occur
gb/əkˈɚ/ us/əkˈɚ/
B1
English
~ 700
Senses
0 senses
Verb
B1
action
1
To happen or take place
To happen or take place.
Usage pattern:
[event] occurs
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes confuse 'occur' with 'happen to' when talking about something happening to a person. 'Occur' is more formal and often used for events, not personal experiences.
Synonyms
happen (More common in everyday speech; often less formal than 'occur'.)
|
take place (Often used for planned events, while 'occur' can be more neutral.)
Antonyms
never happen (Indicates that an event does not take place at all.)
Collocations
occur naturally
|occur frequently
|occur suddenly
|occur during
|occur in
Themes
daily life
|news
|time
|core_vocabulary
Examples
- The accident occurred late at night.
- A power outage occurred during the storm.
- Several changes have occurred since last year.
- The meeting will occur at 10 a.m.
- This phenomenon occurs in nature.
Learner examples
- The party will occur on Friday.
- A big storm occurred last night.
- An error occurred in the system.
- The problem occurred again yesterday.
Verb
B2
action
2
To come into the mind
To come into someone's mind as an idea or thought.
Usage pattern:
[idea] occurs to [someone]
Common mistake:
Learners may forget the 'to' in the phrase 'occur to [someone]'. The correct form is 'It occurred to me', not 'It occurred me'.
Synonyms
cross one's mind (Slightly more informal; often used casually in conversation.)
|
come to mind (Neutral and often used for immediate recall or association.)
Antonyms
slip one's mind (Means to be forgotten instead of remembered or thought of.)
Collocations
occur to me
|suddenly occur to
|never occur to
Themes
thinking
|communication
|core_vocabulary
Examples
- It never occurred to me that she might be lying.
- Has it ever occurred to you to ask for help?
- The solution suddenly occurred to him while he was walking home.
- It didn't occur to them that they might be wrong.
Learner examples
- It did not occur to me to call you.
- The idea occurred to her during lunch.
- It suddenly occurred to me that I was late.
Grammar
Dictionary form
occur
IPA
GB/əkˈɚ/
US/əkˈɚ/
Syllables & stress
oc - cur (2 syllables)
Stress on 2nd syllable (cur)
Word forms
Verb
- Base: occur
- 3rd Person Singular: occurs
- Present Participle: occuring, occurring
- Past: occured, occurred
Word family
Forms
occurs
verb
occuring
verb
occurring
verb
occured
verb
occurred
verb
Core family
occurrence
noun B2
Related words
Negative and opposite forms
non-occurrence
noun
Advanced or less common
co-occur
verb
co-occurrence
noun
Expressions
occur to someone
1/əkˈɚ tə sˈʌmwˌʌn/
fixed phrase
For an idea to come into someone's mind
If something occurs to you, you think of it without planning to.
Examples
- It suddenly occurred to me that I had forgotten my keys.
- Has it ever occurred to you that she might be right?