ENGLISH
REFERENCE

occur

v.
B1 Intermediate Oxford US //əˈkɝ// UK //əkˈɜː// oc·cur Academic General-service

v. to happen or take place. You use this word in more formal situations to describe an event or a situation.

v. to take place or happen; to exist or be found in a particular place or situation. Intransitive — does not take a direct object.


SIMPLE

The accident occurred late at night.

CONTEXTUAL

Scientists are trying to understand why these earthquakes occur so frequently in this specific region.

COMPLEX

While minor errors often occur during the initial data entry phase, the system is designed to flag any significant discrepancies before the final report is generated.

Synonyms
Origin

Originally "meet (in argument)", borrowed from Middle French occurrer, from Latin occurrō (“run to meet, run against, befall, present itself”) from prefix ob- (“against”) + verb currō (“run, hurry, move”).

Usage

The verb is intransitive and cannot be used in the passive voice. When used to mean 'to come to mind', it takes the preposition 'to' followed by a person.

Pitfall

The meeting was occurred yesterdayThe meeting occurred yesterdayOccur is an intransitive verb and cannot be used in the passive voice.

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