⚡ Quick summary
Recurring and reoccurring can both be used as a verb and an adjective meaning “happening again.” Typically, recurring is used to indicate that something regularly happens—it happens again and again. In contrast, reoccurring is typically used to indicate that something is happening for a second time, but it doesn’t usually imply that it happens often or repeatedly.
The words recurring and reoccurring are both used to indicate that something is happening again. But which word is the right one to say that something keeps happening over and over?
In this article, we’ll define recurring and reoccurring, explain the difference between them, and provide examples of how they’re typically used in sentences.
When to use recurring or reoccurring
Reoccurring and recurring can both be used as a verb and an adjective. In general, they can both mean “occurring again” or “happening again.” However, there is a difference in how they are typically used.
Reoccurring is typically used to simply mean that something is happening again. It doesn’t specifically indicate how many times something happens or if it happens regularly. It commonly implies that something is happening for a second time.
For example:
- In order to prevent flooding from reoccurring, they repaired and reinforced the dam.
- It was a reoccurring scenario—one we had hoped to avoid.
On the other hand, recurring is typically used to mean that something happens regularly, that it has happened multiple times in the past, or that it is expected to happen repeatedly in the future.
For example:
- I have a recurring dream in which I’m late to class and can’t find the room.
- My back pain has been recurring for years since my injury.
This difference between reoccurring and recurring is subtle. And in fact, it’s common for the two words to be used interchangeably, especially in casual usage.
The distinction between recurring and reoccurring is also present in the base forms.
recur vs. reoccur
The verbs recur and reoccur are both used to mean “to occur again” or “to happen again.” However, there is a difference in how they are typically used.
Reoccur is typically used in the context of something happening more than once—often for a second time. Usually, reoccur doesn’t imply how often or regularly something happens.
For example:
- If we don’t want this level of flooding to reoccur, we must repair and reinforce the dam.
Recur, on the other hand, is typically used in the context of something that happens (or is expected to happen) regularly, has happened multiple times in the past, or will happen multiple times again in the future.
For example:
- Even with physical therapy, your back pain may recur for years.
Do you know the difference between imbed vs. embed? Learn here.
Examples of recurring and reoccurring used in a sentence
Let’s look again at recurring and reoccurring to see how we typically use these words in sentences.
- Our goal is to prevent this issue from reoccurring—once was enough.
- These incidents have been recurring for years.
- Corruption proved to be a recurring problem.
- Luckily, we only had one reoccurring glitch when we tested the launch again.
