You can say that an event occurs.
However, you only use occur to talk about events which are not planned.
Occur is a fairly formal word. In conversation and in less formal writing, you usually say that an event happens.
Be Careful!
Don't say that a planned event 'occurs' or 'happens'. Say that it takes place.
Don't use 'occur to' to say that someone is affected by an event. Don't say, for example, 'I wonder what's occurred to Jane'. Say 'I wonder what's happened to Jane'.
| Imperative |
|---|
| occur |
| occur |
| Verb | 1. | occur - come to pass; "What is happening?"; "The meeting took place off without an incidence"; "Nothing occurred that seemed important" recrudesce, develop, break - happen; "Report the news as it develops"; "These political movements recrudesce from time to time" result - come about or follow as a consequence; "nothing will result from this meeting" intervene - occur between other event or between certain points of time; "the war intervened between the birth of her two children" transpire - come about, happen, or occur; "Several important events transpired last week" give - occur; "what gives?" operate - happen; "What is going on in the minds of the people?" supervene - take place as an additional or unexpected development come - come to pass; arrive, as in due course; "The first success came three days later"; "It came as a shock"; "Dawn comes early in June" fall - occur at a specified time or place; "Christmas falls on a Monday this year"; "The accent falls on the first syllable" anticipate - be a forerunner of or occur earlier than; "This composition anticipates Impressionism" develop - be gradually disclosed or unfolded; become manifest; "The plot developed slowly"; roll around, come around - happen regularly; "Christmas rolled around again" bechance, befall, happen - happen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by chance; "It happens that today is my birthday"; "These things befell" (Santayana) bechance, befall, betide - become of; happen to; "He promised that no harm would befall her"; "What has become of my children?" backfire, backlash, recoil - come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect; "Your comments may backfire and cause you a lot of trouble" chance - be the case by chance; "I chanced to meet my old friend in the street" break - happen or take place; "Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months" fall, shine, strike - touch or seem as if touching visually or audibly; "Light fell on her face"; "The sun shone on the fields"; "The light struck the golden necklace"; "A strange sound struck my ears" turn out - prove to be in the result or end; "It turns out that he was right" |
| 2. | occur - come to one's mind; suggest itself; "It occurred to me that we should hire another secretary"; "A great idea then came to her" become - come into existence; "What becomes has duration" | |
| 3. | occur - to be found to exist; "sexism occurs in many workplaces"; "precious stones occur in a large area in Brazil" come along, appear - come into being or existence, or appear on the scene; "Then the computer came along and changed our lives"; "Homo sapiens appeared millions of years ago" run - occur persistently; "Musical talent runs in the family" collocate - have a strong tendency to occur side by side; "The words 'new' and 'world' collocate" |