The verb “occur” is a regular verb in the English language, and its conjugation follows a specific pattern across different tenses. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a detailed understanding of how to use the verb “occur” in various tenses, along with examples to help you master its usage.
Infinitive
The infinitive form of the verb “occur” is occur /əˈkɜːr/. Here are some examples:
- Thunderstorms frequently occur in this region during the summer.
- Errors occur in even the most carefully edited texts.
- Changes in policy occur more often than you might think.
Past Simple
The past simple form of the verb “occur” is occurred /əˈkɜrd/. Here are some examples:
- The power outage occurred during the night, leaving us without electricity until morning.
- As I walked through the eerie forest, an unexpected noise occurred, making me halt in my tracks.
- The meeting that occurred yesterday was stopped due to unexpected circumstances.
Past Participle
The past participle form of the verb “occur” is also occurred /əˈkɜːrd/. Here are some examples:
- The event has occurred just as planned.
- The mistake was occurred by an oversight in our system.
- Many changes have occurred in the company over the past year.
Present Tense
In the present tense, the verb “occur” follows this pattern:
- I/you/he/she/it: occur
- we/you/they: occur
Examples:
- Accidents occur frequently at that intersection.
- Random mutations occur in the DNA of living organisms.
- The next solar eclipse occurs on April 8th.
Present Continuous
The present continuous form of the verb “occur” is as follows:
- I: am occurring
- you: are occurring
- he/she/it: is occurring
- we/you/they: are occurring
Examples:
- The storm is occurring right now.
- The company is occurring changes in its management structure.
Present Perfect
The present perfect form of the verb “occur” is:
- I: have occurred
- you: have occurred
- he/she/it: has occurred
- we/you/they: have occurred
Examples:
- Changes have occurred since you were last here.
- By the time we arrived, the meeting had already occurred.
- By 2050, a significant shift in climate patterns will have occurred.
Present Perfect Continuous
The present perfect continuous form of the verb “occur” is:
- I: have been occurring
- you: have been occurring
- he/she/it: has been occurring
- we/you/they: have been occurring
Examples:
- The company has been occurring changes in its management structure.
- The storm has been occurring for hours.
Past Perfect
The past perfect form of the verb “occur” is:
- I: had occurred
- you: had occurred
- he/she/it: had occurred
- we/you/they: had occurred
Examples:
- Changes had occurred since you were last here.
- By the time we arrived, the meeting had already occurred.
- By 2050, a significant shift in climate patterns will have occurred.
Past Perfect Continuous
The past perfect continuous form of the verb “occur” is:
- I: had been occurring
- you: had been occurring
- he/she/it: had been occurring
- we/you/they: had been occurring
Examples:
- The company had been occurring changes in its management structure.
- The storm had been occurring for hours.
Future
The future form of the verb “occur” is:
- I: will occur
- you: will occur
- he/she/it: will occur
- we/you/they: will occur
Examples:
- The next solar eclipse will occur on April 8th.
- Changes will occur in the company’s policy soon.
Future Continuous
The future continuous form of the verb “occur” is:
- I: will be occurring
- you: will be occurring
- he/she/it: will be occurring
- we/you/they: will be occurring
Examples:
- The storm will be occurring right now.
- The company will be occurring changes in its management structure.
Future Perfect
The future perfect form of the verb “occur” is:
- I: will have occurred
- you: will have occurred
- he/she/it: will have occurred
- we/you/they: will have occurred
Examples:
- Changes will have occurred since you were last here.
- By the time we arrive, the meeting will have already occurred.
- By 2050, a significant shift in climate patterns will have occurred.
Future Perfect Continuous
The future perfect continuous form of the verb “occur” is:
- I: will have been occurring
- you: will have been occurring
- he/she/it: will have been occurring
- we/you/they: will have been occurring
Examples:
- The company will have been occurring changes in its management structure.
- The storm will have been occurring for hours.
Conditional
The conditional forms of the verb “occur” are:
- Present: would occur
- Present Continuous: would be occurring
- Perfect: would have occurred
- Perfect Continuous: would have been occurring
Examples:
- If it rains, the storm would occur.
- If it rains, the storm would be occurring.
- If it rains, the storm would have occurred.
- If it rains, the storm would have been occurring.
Conditional Perfect
The conditional perfect form of the verb “occur” is:
- I: would have occurred
- you: would have occurred
- he/she/it: would have occurred
- we/you/they: would have occurred
Examples:
- If it rains, the storm would have occurred.
- If it rains, the storm would have been occurring.
Conditional Perfect Continuous
The conditional perfect continuous form of the verb “occur” is:
- I: would have been occurring
- you: would have been occurring
- he/she/it: would have been occurring
- we/you/they: would have been occurring
Examples:
- If it rains, the storm would have been occurring.
- If it rains, the storm would have been occurring for hours.
Bare Infinitive
The bare infinitive form of the verb “occur” is used in the following example:
- Accidents occur frequently at that intersection.
Modal
The modal forms of the verb “occur” are:
- No: does not occur
- May: may occur
- Might: might occur
- Can: can occur
- Could: could occur
- Shall: shall occur
- Should: should occur
- Will: will occur
- Would: would occur
- Must: must occur
- Ought to: ought to occur
Examples:
- It may occur that the storm will pass quickly.
- It might occur that the storm will pass quickly.
- It can occur that the storm will pass quickly.
- It could occur that the storm will pass quickly.
- It shall occur that the storm will pass quickly.
- It should occur that the storm will pass quickly.
- It will occur that the storm will pass quickly.
- It would occur that the storm will pass quickly.
- It must occur that the storm will pass quickly.
- It ought to occur that the storm will pass quickly.
Reference Links:
- https://promova.com/past-tense-of/occur
- https://www.theconjugator.com/english/verb/to%2Boccur.html
- https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/conjugation/english/occur
Hey! I am Arpita Bose Roy. My qualifications are M.A. in English with B. Ed. in both general education and special education. I have 2 years of experience as a “language analyst” at IIT Kharagpur and 4 years of experience as an “Academic Content Developer” at IIT Kharagpur. Currently, I am working as an academic writer at Lambdageeks.