The accident took place near a hospital.

=The accident happened near a hospital.

=The accident came into occurrence near a hospital.

=The accident occurred near a hospital.

参考译文：医院附近发生一起事故。

(1)take place  为不及物动词，不能接宾语"发生，举行“

The stock market is convinced more cross-border deals will take place.  

股市相信跨境交易会越来越多。

Elections will now take place on November the twenty-fifth.  

选举现定于11月25号举行。

Elections were postponed the day before polling was due to take place.  

在预定进行投票的前一天选举被延期。

(2)happen, occur, chance, take place这些词语都可表示“发生”之意。

A:happen： 普通用词，泛指一切客观事物或情况的发生，强调动作的偶然性和事前无法预测/预料的意外地发生。 

We cannot say for sure what will happen. 

我们无法确定会发生什么事。

The accident happened close to Martha's Vineyard.  

事故发生在玛莎葡萄园附近。

B:occur： 较正式用词，可指意外地发生，也可指意料中的发生。 

If headaches only occur at night, lack of fresh air and oxygen is often the cause.

如果只是在晚上头疼，那常常是由于缺乏新鲜空气和氧气的缘故。

The crash occurred when the crew shut down the wrong engine.

机务人员关错了引擎，随即飞机坠毁。

C:chance： 侧重事前无安排或无准备而发生的事，特指巧合。 

A man I chanced to meet proved to be a most unusual character...  

我邂逅了一个人，后来发现他是个极为与众不同的家伙。

It was just then that I chanced to look round.  

就在那时，我恰好环顾了下四周。

D:take place： 多指通过人为的事先有计划的安排发生。

The meeting should take place on the fifth of May.  

会议将会于5月5日举行。

take place本身就是一个短语动词，相当于一个不及物动词，意为“发生”。你查词典就可知道。例如：

The meeting will take place soon.

An fatal accident took place at this cross three years ago.

The fete will take place on Sunday, rain or shine.