Which to use
“occur” is a verb and “our” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,187
- “occur” frequency rank
- #76
- “our” frequency rank
- 3263
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | occur | our |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To happen or take place. | Belonging to us, excluding the person(s) being addressed (exclusive our). |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set occur and our apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: occur is /əˈkɜː/ while our is /ˈaʊə(ɹ)/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
occur is recorded at frequency rank #3,187, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈkɜː/. our is at rank #76, tagged as adet, pronounced /ˈaʊə(ɹ)/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 3263, this pair ranks #522,629 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of occur vs our
Shared letters: oru. Private to "occur": c. Private to "our": -.
"occur" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "our" · 3 letters · shape VVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- occur ← cocur · occru · occurr · ocucr · ocur
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "occur" and "our" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "occur" or "our"?
Remembering occur vs our
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “occur”; for a determiner, it's “our”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “occur” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable