A stepbystep guide, and pharmacy technician career starter. Ensure definition in the cambridge english dictionary. Jun 08, 2016 ensure means to do what is needed to create a specific outcome. Insure means to buy insurance for something, or to provide insurance for something. Nov 14, 2006 nevertheless, some usage and style manuals insist that insure should be used only in the financial sense. The book is divided into four sections, each with a different grammar goal. Most of the time, though, you can clearly divide them into three separate definitions. Ensure is subtly different from assure, and people often confuse the two. This may be attributed to how all three words can be associated with the sureness of an outcome. However, rather than using these words interchangeably, id like to point out the unique aspects of each word so that you can use them to communicate your intention clearly. Some sources note that people use assure, ensure, and insure interchangeably. Also derived from securus are the english words sure, assure, secure, and security.
The rule that insure must be used only in the context of indemnifying against loss is one that has never penetrated to my subconscious. The three verbs are very much related to each other as all three of them deal with guaranteeing on thing or another. Mauricio saved money from every paycheck to assure ensure insure he could buy gifts for his family at the end of the year. However, these terms should not be used interchangeably. To ensure is to do or have what is necessary for success. Ensure, insure, and assure are three of the most commonly confused verbs in the english language. Even though they can be synonyms, one way to make sure of correct usage is to use insure to relate to financial matters and ensure in the broader meaning of making certain or safe. I assure you that i have been honest about the money i spent. But well keep posting articles like this to ensure you understand all its ins and outs.
Get grammar girls take on assure versus ensure versus insure. Voa learning english presents news, features, audio, video and multimedia about the u. In american english, ensure and insure can often be used interchangeably. Felice primeau devine is a writer from albany, new york. They are interchangeable in many contexts where they indicate the making certain or inevitable of an outcome. Though they look and smell the same, their meanings are fairly different. His work is great and should ensure the survival of his business. Now, lets see if you can complete these sentences using assure, ensure, or. Aug 19, 2016 the words assure, ensure, and insure are among the common terms that are often misused and interchanged. All three verbsassure, ensure, and insure have their roots in a latin word for safe or secure. Assurance is the guarantee that something will happen however insurance is the policy that covers up any losses.
Aug 26, 2008 on its path from latin through french and into english, securus became simplified and took on a variety of prefixes, thus leading to the confusingly similar english verbs assure, ensure, and insure. After reading this post, i can assure you will never misuse ensure vs. But this is really a pretty simple conflict to resolve. Jan 20, 20 if people would just use ensure every time they want to use insure, they would be right most of the time. So i thought for my fellow writers and anyone else that might find it helpful, i would clarify these three frequently confused words. The price of ensuring the life of a man of 20 1693. We ensured the success of the plan after we assured the chairman that the property would be insured. Study up on the particulars of these terms and test your knowledge with our quiz.
Today, while writing the conundrum of insure, assure and ensure came up. All three of these words are used in specific instances, so its important to keep track of insure vs. When you get down to it though, there is an easy way of separating the two. The verbs assure, ensure, and insure all have the general meaning to make sure, and even though some argue that they are interchangeable 1,2. If you ensure that something happens, you make certain that it happens. Grammar girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing. Grammar at a glance i bet you thought grammar couldnt get any more quick and dirty than it did in the previous pages, but heres the quickest grammar of all, culled from lengthier explanations found elsewhere in this book. May 17, 2016 to assure a person of something is to make him or her confident of it. All three verbs have something to do with making sure and are therefore similar, but each of them has a distinct meaning. I assure ensure insure you that i have been honest about the money i spent. The three words, assure, ensure, and insure, are often confused.
With those definitions, i think three verbs assure, ensure and insure can fit the blank. If you know the word reassure, you can imagine using assure the first time you are making someone feel confident. Last week i was waiting in my doctors office, casually taking in the wall art you know, the cartoon man coughing phlegm into a face mask to remind you to be careful where you spew your germs and the stepbystep instructions on how not to freak out your kids when they get their shots. They both derive from the same word meaning to make sure. If you insure him, then youre taking out a policy on his life. If you ensure that something is correct or that it happens, you check it and fix any problems. I will cover the functions, definitions, and grammar behind each word, so you can understand their differences and use them properly. Stories are written at the intermediate and upperbeginner level. Today, i want to clear up that confusion and outline the unique characteristics of each of these words. To ensure something is to make sure it happensto guarantee it. We ensure that we get up on time, we ensure that we brush our teeth, that we drink our ensure, etc. Choosing between ensure, assure, and insure is something that gives first language english speakers a hard time, but the two words are actually very different. Ensure refers to the act of making something certain.
See more ideas about grammar, teaching grammar and teaching english. Remember that assure is used when talking about people, and ensure is used when talking about things. Some grammar guides consider ensure the only correct usage here, but others disagree. Grammar slammer insure, assure and ensure jason stadtlander. To assure a person of something is to make him or her confident of it.
Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing by mignon fogarty. The grammar girl podcast has also won best education podcast multiple times in the podcast awards, and mignon is an inductee in the podcasting hall of fame. The words assure, ensure, and insure like to pretend that they are a lot more alike than they actually are. David ensured his success by keeping complete notes on the process. Learn the definitions of insure, assure, and ensure, and when to use them. These blankets ensure that youll be warm enough to insure is to cover with an insurance policy what you insure you entrust to a business. According to oed citations, ensure was still being used in the 18th century with the meaning of buying insurance. There are lots of english words which look similar to one another but diverge in meaning, often causing problems for those learning the language. Well go through what they mean, and how to use them. His latest book ensured his success as a novel writer.
Heat the oven for 10 minutes to ensure its hot enough for your roast. Assure, ensure, insure assurance, insurance betty choy from hong kong writes. Insure all three words share an element of making an outcome sure. If a contract stipulates that the individual must insure something the. Assure, ensure, and insure have the same underlying meaning, but they each have a slightly different use. To insure something or someone is to cover it with an insurance policy. Only people can feel anxious or doubtful only they can be assured. Cindy used the teleprompter to ensure that she would remember her speech completely. But the trio of assure, insure and ensure even confuse native speakers from time to time. Native speakers of english also have trouble with these words. To my surprise, a woman in attendance corrected me on the spot. A third verb, assure, is often confused with ensure and insure. This was 30 years ago, in the united states, so its not a matter of being trendy or trying to sound british. Home english grammar ensure vs insure short explanation with simple examples.
Aug 25, 2017 ensure is subtly different from assure, and people often confuse the two. However, you can easily avoid confusion by remembering their distinct uses. Mar 18, 2018 voa learning english presents news, features, audio, video and multimedia about the u. Strictly speaking, it is incorrect to use insure and ensure interchangeably. Assure is something that you tell to another person, something that can feel doubt or uncertainty. Ensure means to do what is needed to create a specific outcome.
We are off to a running start in the confusion race. Assure, ensure, insure grammar goddess communication. All three words are derived from the latin word securus, meaning secure, and they have some similarities in their definitions. It always grates on me when i see insure used where ensure would be a better fit. Ensure is subtly different from assure and people often confuse the two. Insure deals with insurance, protecting something or. All three words share an element of making an outcome sure. I would be most grateful if you could tell me the difference between assurance and insurance. I was once in a meeting with some colleagues when i used the word ensure in the context of making sure something happens. Ensure means to make sure or to guarantee and insure refers to the financial service of insurance. The definitions of the three verbs assure, ensure, and insure overlap enough to make them synonyms in some cases. Ensure vs insure short explanation with simple examples.
So if you train your fingers to type an e every time they are about to type nsure, then you will be right almost every single time. Now, lets see if you can complete these sentences using assure, ensure, or insure. She has worked in publishing for more than ten years as an editor, publicist, and brand director. However, rather than using these words interchangeably, let me point out the unique aspects of each word so that you can use them to communicate your intention clearly. Until the 17th century, the forms ensure and insure were used interchangeably with a variety of meanings, including that of insuring a persons life or property against loss. Apr 17, 2018 assure is usually used in conversation, to help someone understand that everything is ok. According to associated press style, to ensure that something happens is to make certain that it does, and to insure is to issue an insurance policy. So, lets ensure proper use of these words, and insure our homes and our. I will assure ensure insure my car as required by law. Insure definition in the cambridge english dictionary. Ensure means you are going to make sure something does or does not happen, and dont you dare mess it up. Other authorities, however, consider ensure and insure interchangeable. The words assure, ensure, and insure are among the common terms that are often misused and interchanged. Ensure means to make sure that something will be the case.
I will cover the functions, definitions, and grammar behind each word, so you can after reading this post, i can assure you will never misuse ensure vs. The short answer is insure is limited to the financial product we buy to limit our liability. Jan 14, 2019 ensure, insure, and assure are three of the most commonly confused verbs in the english language. Mignon is the author of the new york times bestseller grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing and six other books on writing. Also, insure is typically reserved for financial meanings. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing by. For example, some people might say we hired a caterer to insure an excellent meal, but ensure is the more common usage. The airport management took steps to ensure the safety of the passengers. In american english, insure is occasionally used instead of ensure. When to use assure, ensure, and insure last week i was waiting in my doctors office, casually taking in the wall art you know, the cartoon man coughing phlegm into a face mask to remind you to be careful where you spew your germs.
Keep reading and practicing in the comments to insure against unfortunate errors in your writing. Help support the grammarphobia blog with your donation. Ensure, insure, and assure all mean to make a thing or person sure. What you ensure results from your personal efforts. If a that clause follows the verb, you must use ensure. Insure, like insurance, is always related to finances. Insure means to safeguard against loss or damage, typically through the purchase of insurance to do so. Theres a large overlap between insure and ensure when it comes to their definitions, and many people find it hard to differentiate the two. The question of whether to use insure or ensure or assure has plagued the english language for years.
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