When it comes to using occured vs. occurred, are the two spellings interchangeable variations of one another? Actually, they aren’t, and occured isn’t even a real word (you won’t find it in any English dictionary!). To clear the confusion, occurred is the correct spelling, and it means that something happened or someone realized something. So, read on to learn what it means, how to use it, and how to remember it.
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What Is Occurred?
Occurred, the past tense of the verb occur, means that something happened or that someone came to a realization about something. Another meaning relates to the existence of plants or animals in an ecosystem. The examples at the end of this section will show those different usages.
When pronounced correctly, occurred sounds like uh-kurd. However, it’s not the pronunciation of the word that gives people trouble; what gives them trouble is the spelling.
When you use the word, there should be proper context to reveal which meaning you’re using.
Examples:
- The total solar eclipse that recently occurred in America drew visitors from around the world.
- It never occurred to me to grab an umbrella before I left, and I ended up soaked later on.
- Her Halloween birthday occurred on the night of a full moon this year, which thrilled her.
- Healthy levels of trout occurred in the regional waterways until the introduction of a non-native competitor species.
- It just occurred to me that I’ve been using the incorrect spelling all this time!
- Has it ever occurred to you that your “frankness” often comes across as being rude?
- An explosion occurred down the street!
- A collision occurred down the highway!
Synonyms of Occurred
There are several synonyms for occurred that you can use to make your essay more interesting and improve your writing skills. Following are some examples of good synonyms for occurred.
- Happened
- Transpired
- Materialized
- Arose
- Took place
- Dawned upon
When and How To Use Occurred?
Occurred is usually referring to something that has already happened, but there are other ways to use it.
For example, you could say, “By the time we get there, the main event will have occurred already.” This is the future perfect tense.
There’s also the past participle, where you use occurred with have, has, or had. Actually, the last example in the first section uses the past participle (Has it ever occurred to you that your “frankness” often comes across as being rude?).
Occured vs. Occurred vs. Ocurred: Which Spelling Is Correct?
In the section title above, you can see the two most common misspellings of our subject word. Of the two, occured appears more frequently.
The only correct spelling for the past tense of occur is occurred. There are no exceptions. It isn’t like theater in American English, and theatre in British English, for example.
Trick To Remembering the Correct Spelling
If choosing from occured vs. occurred is giving you trouble, there’s a rule of English that can help. First, see if the word has two or more consonants and if the second consonant is stressed. Occur fits.
Next, is the word a C-V-C one? This stands for consonant-vowel-consonant and applies to the last three letters of the word. Again, occur is a match.
When both of these conditions exist, you double the final consonant before adding a suffix. So, if you want to use the past the past tense of occur, you should double the final letter (R) and then the suffix ed.
Another option is to use an appropriate synonym that’s easier to spell. You can also use a spell checker before submitting your essay!
Final Thoughts
Occured vs. occurred leads to frequent misspellings, but it doesn’t have to. The best thing to avoid this common mistake is to commit to memory that occurred is the one and only correct way to spell the past tense of the word occur. If that doesn’t work for you, then try to get the stress/C-V-C rule down. Remembering the correct spelling seems easier, though!
