Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell occurrence

hear itoc·cur·rence/ə'kɜrəns/nounPrefixes and work

What it means: An event that happens or takes place.

In a sentence: Seeing a rainbow is a rare occurrence!

The part people get wrong

Watch for double c and double r, and an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as occurence or occurance.

Same family: occurs, occurred, occurring, reoccurrence. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Occurrence” comes from the Latin verb “occurrere,” meaning “to run toward” or “to happen.” Its double c and double r reflect how the Latin form had both a prefix and a root that each started with the letter c (ob- + currere).

Patterns it uses: The unstressed vowel (schwa)

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