Occur to someone

If an idea or thought “occurs to” you, it comes into your mind. As I was prepping this lesson, it “occurred to me,” or the thought came into my mind, that we have many Plain English listeners in tropical climates or parts of the world where the change in leaf colors is more muted. As the student was explaining why her project was late, it suddenly “occurred to” the teacher that the student might not have access to a computer at home. The teacher suddenly had the thought come into her mind that the student might not have a computer at home.