Meaning & use
occurred
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“occurred” is a form of “occur”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbintransitive
Happened or took place, especially without being planned or when it was not expected.
Grammar: No object follows: the accident occurred at dawn, not 'occurred the accident'.
Patterns
- something occurred
- something occurred at/in/on something
- something occurred during something
The collision occurred at about nine o'clock on Tuesday night.
Several errors occurred while the data was being copied.
Nobody knows exactly when the fire occurred.
verbphrasal verb
Came into someone's mind as a thought or idea.
Grammar: Used with 'to' plus a person: it occurred to me that I had left the door unlocked.
Patterns
- it occurred to someone that...
- something occurred to someone
It occurred to her that the letter might never have been sent.
The solution had never occurred to us until the meeting ended.
verbintransitiveformal
Was found or existed naturally in a particular place or condition.
Grammar: Often followed by in or among: the mineral occurred in small veins.
Patterns
- something occurred in something
- something occurred naturally
The disease occurred mostly in children under five.
Copper occurred in the rock in thin green streaks.
Common combinations
- occurred to me
- It suddenly occurred to me that I had forgotten her birthday.
- occurred naturally
- The pattern occurred naturally and was not designed by anyone.
- incident occurred
- The incident occurred shortly after the match ended.
- occurred without warning
- The power cut occurred without warning during the storm.
- when it occurred
- Nobody recalls exactly where they were when it occurred.
- occurred frequently
- Similar problems occurred frequently throughout the winter.
Synonyms and how they differ
- happened
- Happened is the everyday word and fits casual speech, while occurred sounds slightly more formal and is typical of reports.
- took place
- Took place suggests something organized or scheduled, like a meeting, whereas occurred suits unplanned events.
- arose
- Arose stresses that a problem or situation appeared and began, and works poorly for an event with a clear single moment.
- transpired
- Transpired is more formal still and often implies that something became known, which occurred does not.
Word family
- occur verb
- the base form: to happen
- occurrence noun
- an event, or the fact of something happening
- recur verb
- to happen again
- recurrence noun
- the repeating of an event
Commonly confused: occurred or occured? occurred or incurred?
occurred vs occured
This is a common misspelling. Occur doubles the r before -ed, so the correct past tense is occurred.
occurred vs incurred
Incurred means brought upon yourself, such as costs or debts. It is not a synonym for happened.
Practice
Choose the sentence that is spelled and used correctly.
Choose one answer.
Occurred needs a double r, and it is intransitive so it is never used in the passive (was occurred). Option 1 is misspelled and option 4 lacks a finite verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “occurred”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.