occur
- 01 B1 Intermediate
to happen or take place, especially when you are describing a specific event.
to take place or happen. This sense is intransitive and often used in formal or academic reporting of events.
Simple“The police are trying to find out exactly when the accident occurred.”
In context“The most significant seismic shifts occurred during the late evening, catching the monitoring team off guard despite their sophisticated equipment.”
UsageIntransitive; does not take a direct object.
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
to exist or be found in a particular place or situation.
to be present or found within a specific context, location, or dataset.
Simple“These rare birds only occur in the deep parts of the rainforest.”
In context“The chemical compound occurs naturally in the bark of several tropical trees, though its concentration varies significantly by season.”
UsageOften used with the preposition 'in'.
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
you use this when an idea or a thought suddenly enters your mind.
to come into the mind or suggest itself to a person. Typically used in the construction 'it occurred to [someone] that'.
Simple“It suddenly occurred to me that I had left my keys in the car.”
In context“It had never occurred to the management that the staff might prefer flexible working hours over a traditional salary increase.”
UsageUsually takes the preposition 'to' followed by the person.
PitfallAn idea occurred me. An idea occurred to me.The verb 'occur' requires the preposition 'to' when mentioning the person who had the thought.
Usage activity occur · actually occur · change occur
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”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.