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They don't know what they don't know and never *occur that there's more to know.

What is a better fit for "occur," here used actively, here? Passively, it is:

They don't know what they don't know and it never occurs to them that there's more to know.

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  • 3
    "Realize", maybe?
    – Hot Licks
    Mar 26 '20 at 13:39
  • An idea occurred to me/ struck me. It is somewhere near?
    – Ram Pillai
    Mar 26 '20 at 15:06
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    It never occurs to me is not Passive. Passive requires a form of be followed by a past participle. Neither one of them is here.
    – John Lawler
    Mar 26 '20 at 15:26
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    That's not the passive voice; you have a dummy it, which is what we tend to use when we have a long that-clause as a subject. You can replace the dummy it * the long *that-clause: They don't know what they don't know, and that there's more to know never occurs to them. Or just leave it off; you've just said the same thing twice.
    – Tinfoil Hat
    Mar 26 '20 at 15:27

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