occur

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verb [intransitive] American English pronunciation: occur

/əˈkɜr/

present tense
I/you/we/they	occur
he/she/it	occurs
present participle	occurring
past tense	occurred
past participle	occurred

Other entries for this word

Related dictionary definitions

Get It Right!

1
to happen, especially unexpectedly
The police said that the accident occurred at about 4:30 p.m.
occur in:
Complications occurred in only 5% of patients.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of occur
2
formal to exist or be found somewhere
occur in/on etc.:
This small tree also occurs in central and southern India.
These are just some of the elements that occur on our planet.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of occur

phrasal verbs

occur to

Get It Right!: occur

Get it right: occur

Don't write the -ed and -ing forms of occur with only one "r." The correct spellings are occurred and occurring:

✗ It never ocured to me that I could be wrong.

✓ It never occurred to me that I could be wrong.

✗ Many changes are occuring at every level of education.

✓ Many changes are occurring at every level of education.

The reason why the "r" is doubled in the -ed and -ing forms is that the stress falls on the final syllable of the verb in its infinitive form: occur.

The same rule applies to most other verbs ending in -ur and -er where the stress falls on the final syllable:

prefer	preferred	preferring
confer	conferred	conferring
concur	concurred	concurring

When the stress does not fall on the final syllable, the -ed and -ing forms are spelled with one "r":

utter	uttered	uttering
cater	catered	catering
murmur	murmured	murmuring

This is the American English definition of occur. View British English definition of occur.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to British English.

View the pronunciation for occur.

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