occur

[jiang]

Dear teachers,

Could you please explain if there is any difference between the two sentences?

1. The idea that today is her birthday occurred to me.
2. It occurred to me that today is her birthday.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

 

[Rover_KE]

2 is how a native speaker would say it.

1 is wordy and unnatural.

Rover

 

[e2e4]

/A learner/

Dear teachers,

Could you please explain if there is any difference between the two sentences?

1. The idea that today is her birthday occurred to me.
2. It occurred to me that today is her birthday.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

I think

That isn't an idea.
That's the fact.

I've recalled that today's her birthday.

#1 carries redundancy (either occurred or idea should go out of it)

The word occur should be used in sense of to happen, or present, or of an idea or thought you've got on your mind.

How happened you knew how to do it?
It just occurred to me.