Occurred, Occured, or Ocurred—Which Spelling Is Right?

Spelling words isn’t always easy, especially when they contain double letters. In this case, the correct spelling is occurred. How can you remember it when you need it?

The best way to remember how to spell occurred is to remember its double set of double consonants. In English, the final letter is doubled when a word of two or more syllables has stress on the final syllable. Occur fits the rule, so there are two cs and two rs in occurred. Would you like to see some examples?

Occurred examples

Anticipation! It occurred to him that his anticipation was more pleasant to him than the experiencing.

Patricia Highsmith, The Talented Mr. Ripley

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The best thing about the bedroom was the bed. I liked to stay in bed for hours, even during the day with covers pulled up to my chin. It was good in there, nothing ever occurred in there, no people, nothing.

Charles Bukowski, Ham on Rye

It’s never occurred to me that the stars are still up there shining even in the daytime when we can’t see them.

Jandy Nelson, I'll Give You the Sun

“Dad,” I said, grasping his hands and looking directly into his eyes. “I’m in the deepest love that has ever occurred in the history of the world.”

The Harvard Lampoon