Occurrence vs. Occurance: Correct Spelling, Examples, and an Easy Memory Trick

Occurrence is the correct spelling. Occurance is a common misspelling.

• Correct: The storm was a rare occurrence.
• Incorrect: The storm was a rare occurance.

This word is tricky because it belongs to the same family as occur, occurred, and occurring, which use double letters. The correct spelling is occurrence with double c and double r: o-c-c-u-r-r-e-n-c-e.

Occurrence vs. occurance at a glance

Spelling	Status	Example
occurrence	correct	Power outages are a common occurrence here.
occurance	incorrect	Avoid occurance in careful writing.

Quick rule:

1. Write occurrence.
2. Do not write occurance.
3. Remember: occur + rence = occurrence.

What does occurrence mean?

Occurrence means something that happens, an event, or an instance of something.

• The error was a one-time occurrence.
• Heavy fog is a common occurrence in the valley.
• The report lists every occurrence of the word.
• Such an occurrence should be documented.

It is often used when describing how often something happens, whether it is common, rare, repeated, unusual, or recorded.

Examples:

• a common occurrence
• a rare occurrence
• a daily occurrence
• a natural occurrence
• a strange occurrence

If you mean an event or instance, the spelling is occurrence.

Is occurance a word?

No. Occurance is not the standard spelling. It is a misspelling of occurrence.

You may see occurance in drafts, comments, messages, or typing mistakes, but it should be corrected in polished writing.

Use occurrence in:

• school essays
• reports
• business writing
• data notes
• safety documents
• SEO articles
• professional emails

This spelling is especially important in formal or technical writing because occurrence often appears in reports and documentation.

The easiest memory trick

Use this memory trick:

> Occurrence comes from occur, and occur has double c.

Then remember that the noun also doubles the r:

• occurrence

Think:

> Double c, double r: occurrence.

The wrong spelling occurance drops the second r sound pattern and uses -ance, but the standard noun is occurrence with -ence.

Occurrence examples

Here are more sentences with occurrence.

• Snow is a rare occurrence in that city.
• The team recorded each occurrence of the error.
• A delay is a normal occurrence during bad weather.
• The manager investigated the unusual occurrence.
• Data loss should not be a regular occurrence.
• The study measured the occurrence of symptoms over time.

In each sentence, occurrence means event, instance, or happening.

Occurance examples corrected

These examples show the common misspelling and the corrected version.

Incorrect:

• This is a common occurance.
• The system logged each occurance.
• Such an occurance is unusual.
• The occurance happened at noon.

Correct:

• This is a common occurrence.
• The system logged each occurrence.
• Such an occurrence is unusual.
• The occurrence happened at noon.

The meaning is understandable, but only occurrence is the correct spelling.

Occur, occurred, occurring, occurrence

This word family is worth learning together.

Word	Correct spelling	Example
base verb	occur	Mistakes can occur.
past tense	occurred	The error occurred yesterday.
present participle	occurring	The issue is occurring again.
noun	occurrence	This is a repeated occurrence.

Common misspellings include:

• occured
• ocurred
• occuring
• occurance

Correct forms:

• occurred
• occurring
• occurrence

The main pattern is double c in occur, and double r when adding endings like -ed, -ing, and -ence.

Occurrence vs. incident

Occurrence and incident are related, but they are not always identical.

Occurrence is neutral. It means something happened.

• A power outage is a common occurrence during storms.

Incident often suggests a specific event, sometimes a problem, accident, or unusual situation.

• The safety team investigated the incident.

Sometimes both words work:

• The outage was a rare occurrence.
• The outage was a serious incident.

Use occurrence when you are focusing on the fact that something happened or how often it happens.

Occurrence in data and reports

Occurrence is common in analytical writing.

• The report counted each occurrence of the error.
• The software tracks the occurrence of login failures.
• Researchers studied the occurrence of the symptom.
• The database stores each occurrence as a separate record.

In this type of writing, occurrence means an instance that can be counted, tracked, or recorded.

Because this word often appears in professional reports, spelling it correctly is important.

Common phrases with occurrence

Use occurrence in phrases like:

• common occurrence
• rare occurrence
• daily occurrence
• natural occurrence
• unusual occurrence
• repeated occurrence
• first occurrence
• occurrence of an error
• occurrence of symptoms

Examples:

• Delays are a common occurrence in winter.
• This was the first occurrence of the bug.
• The doctor asked about the occurrence of headaches.

Common mistakes

Mistake 1: Writing occurance

Incorrect: This is a rare occurance.

Correct: This is a rare occurrence.

Mistake 2: Forgetting the second r

Incorrect: occurence

Correct: occurrence

The correct spelling has two r letters.

Mistake 3: Using -ance instead of -ence

Incorrect: occurrance

Correct: occurrence

The ending is -ence, not -ance.

Mistake 4: Confusing occurred and occurrence

Occurred is a verb:

• The problem occurred yesterday.

Occurrence is a noun:

• The problem was a repeated occurrence.

More example sentences

Correct use of occurrence

• A mistake like this is a rare occurrence.
• The form asks for the date of the occurrence.
• The article discusses the occurrence of droughts.
• The logs show another occurrence of the same error.
• A meeting delay is not an unusual occurrence.

Incorrect spelling fixed

• Incorrect: The occurance was reported.
• Correct: The occurrence was reported.

• Incorrect: This occurance should be reviewed.
• Correct: This occurrence should be reviewed.

• Incorrect: Each occurance was counted.
• Correct: Each occurrence was counted.

Quick quiz

Choose the correct spelling.

1. This is a rare ___.
2. The error ___ twice last week.
3. The issue is ___ again.
4. The correct spelling is ___.
5. Avoid writing ___.

Answers:

1. occurrence
2. occurred
3. occurring
4. occurrence
5. occurance

FAQ

Is it occurrence or occurance?

The correct spelling is occurrence. Occurance is incorrect.

Is occurance a word?

No. Occurance is a common misspelling of occurrence.

How do you spell occurrence?

Spell it o-c-c-u-r-r-e-n-c-e.

Why does occurrence have double r?

The base verb is occur. When forming related words like occurred, occurring, and occurrence, the r is doubled.

Is it occurred or occured?

The correct spelling is occurred with double r.

The same context-first habit also helps with Receive vs. Recieve and Necessary vs. Neccessary. For a wider set of examples in this topic, use the Spelling Confusions archive as the category grows.

Final tip

The correct spelling is occurrence. Do not write occurance.

Remember: o-cc-u-rr-ence — double c, double r.