Occurs

Occur is a verb meaning to happen, take place, or come into being. Occurs is the third-person singular present form, as in “The festival occurs every year,” and it can describe events, phenomena, or situations that exist or appear. The phrase also appears in the sense of something coming to mind, as in “It occurs to me that…”

Etymology and forms: Occur derives from Latin occurrere, meaning to run toward or meet, via Old French and Middle English. It is primarily intransitive, though in the sense “to occur to someone” it can relate to thoughts or ideas. The common forms are occur (base), occurs (present), occurring (present participle), and occurred (past and past participle). The related noun is occurrence, meaning an instance or event.

Usage notes: In ordinary and formal writing, occur is used to report events or phenomena, often with a factual or descriptive tone. For example, “X occurs in 5% of cases” or “The pattern occurs across multiple datasets.” The expression “It occurs to me” is a standard way to introduce a thought. The construction “It occurs that” is archaic in modern usage; more common equivalents are “It happens that” or “It is observed that.”

Related terms: Occurrence refers to an individual event or instance; occurrence rate or incidence is used in statistics and epidemiology. Occur should not be confused with similar verbs like happen or take place, though they often overlap in meaning.