ocurravsocurreWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“ocurra” and “ocurre” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,236
“ocurra” frequency rank
#1,387
“ocurre” frequency rank
6623
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ocurra ocurre
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de ocurrir. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de ocurrir.

Where the eye mixes ocurra and ocurre

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
ocurra
6 ch
ocurre

Why the eye confuses ocurra with ocurre

A purely visual mix-up. ocurra ([oˈkura]) and ocurre ([oˈkure]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - a in “ocurra” becomes e in “ocurre”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6623, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ocurra is recorded at frequency rank #5,236, classified as averb, pronounced [oˈkura]. ocurre is at rank #1,387, tagged as averb, pronounced [oˈkure].

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 6623, this pair ranks #310,239 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ocurra vs ocurre

Shared letters: coru. Private to "ocurra": a. Private to "ocurre": e.

"ocurra" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "ocurre" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ocurracourra · occurra · ocrura · ocura · ocurar · oucrra
  • ocurrecourre · occurre · ocrure · ocure · ocurer · oucrre

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ocurra" for "ocurre" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([oˈkura] versus [oˈkure]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ocurra" or "ocurre" show up more?
"ocurre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,387 in our Spanish list, against #5,236 for "ocurra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "ocurra" and "ocurre" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ocurra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ocurre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #310,239 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ocurra" and "ocurre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ocurra vs ocurrían". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #310,239 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list