At first glance, the two words may actually be one and the same thing, most especially because they sound almost alike and are also spelled somewhat similarly. Sep 02, 2017 assure is also somewhat formal, and, therefore, it doesnt often appear in casual conversations. Assure is also somewhat formal, and, therefore, it doesnt often appear in casual conversations. In grammar girl s quick and dirty tips to clean up your writing, mignon fogarty, the woman behind the popular grammar girl podcast, tackles some of the most common mistakes people make while communicating. Ensure plus contains 350 calories, grams of protein and 11 grams of fat per 8ounce serving. Grammarly can save you from misspellings, grammatical and punctuation mistakes. In grammar girls quick and dirty tips to clean up your writing, mignon fogarty, the woman behind the popular grammar girl podcast, tackles some of the most common mistakes people make while. While these words sound similar theres no situation where they could mean exactly. While both shakes are excellent sources of an omega3 fatty acid alphalinolenic. I assure you that i have been honest about the money i spent. Written with the wit, warmth, and accessibility that the podcasts are known for, grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing covers the grammar rules and wordchoice guidelines that can confound. Both assure and ensure mean to make something certain but assure also means to tell someone in a very strong and definite way that something will happen or that something is true.
Only things that are alive can be assured both alive and assure start with an a. Homonyms are sometimes confusing words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings. In american english, ensure and insure can often be used interchangeably. Check the phone book to find a company that can assure, ensure, insure your storage building. Named to the international reading associations 2012 teachers choice book list. Assurei mean, ensuregood writing by mark nichol once upon a time, professional and amateur writers alike could count on books and publications to help guide them in writing clearly, coherently, and concisely. Mignon fogartys most popular book is grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing. Grammar girl presents the ultimate writing guide for students. Ensure, insure, and assure are three of the most commonly confused verbs in the english language.
If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the faq by clicking the link above. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing quick. A subreddit for questions and discussions about grammar, language, style, conventions, and punctuation. The word assure is used as a verb, and it is used in the sense of promise or tell someone something positively to dispel any doubts. Assure, ensure, insure assurance, insurance betty choy from hong kong writes.
If you want to make something more certain to someone or something, then most likely youll say sentences with the words assure and ensure. Jan 16, 2017 assure is used to speak out a promise or say something with confidence i assure you that he is a great lawyer. You can have a poor command of english, yet grammarly effortlessly helps you create beautifully written pieces. Difference between assure and ensure difference between. When you get down to it though, there is an easy way. Confusing words and homonyms misused words in english. Insure is the easiest to remember, because it has the same initial letters as insurance. If you insure him, then youre taking out a policy on his life. Some sources note that people use assure, ensure, and insure interchangeably. However, these terms should not be used interchangeably. The three verbs are very much related to each other as all three of them deal with guaranteeing on thing or another. Assure most commonly means to remove doubt about, to guarantee, to set ones mind at rest.
I find it interesting that, during an argument for grammar, your very first sentence contains a rather nasty little comma splice. However, you can easily avoid confusion by remembering their distinct uses. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing impressed me because its a book. Jan 14, 2019 ensure, insure, and assure are three of the most commonly confused verbs in the english language.
Ensure is used to make something certain please ensure that you. If you ensure that something is correct or that it happens, you check it and fix any problems. All three words share an element of making an outcome sure. Apr 23, 2017 his work is great and should ensure the survival of his business. Mignon fogarty, whose popular podcasts have been downloaded over twenty million times and whose first book, grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing, was a new york times bestseller.
These two words, however, have traditionally been used in a slightly different way, at least in the uk, which kind of makes them a pair of commonly confused words. There are many words that sound the same or even look the same, but these words are used in entirely different contexts as they have entirely different mean. To ensure something is to make sure it happensto guarantee it. Her tips are available in audio format as a podcast, in text format on her blog, and as a fulllength, comprehensive book that is informative and fun to read. When you get down to it though, there is an easy way of separating the two. Sally stayed up all night drafting a policy to assure, ensure, insure her clients hovercraft. Special care is taken to ensure that teachers understand the course material. The difference between insure, ensure, and assure the verbs insure, with an i, and ensure, with an e, derive from the latin word securus, meaning safe or secure, which itself derives. On the other hand, the word ensure is also used as a verb, and it is used in the sense of make sure. Assure, ensure, and insure are three words people sometimes confuse. This may be attributed to how all three words can be associated with the sureness of an outcome. Adjectives adverbs articles conjunctions interjections nouns prepositions pronouns verbs.
Ensure refers to the act of making something certain. Assure is to change feelings, ensure is to prevent bad things from happening, insure is to have a way to fix things if they go bad. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. This may be attributed to how all three words can be associated with the. The words assure, ensure, and insure are among the common terms that are often misused and interchanged. For the most part, you can use either enquire or inquire and not make a mistake. Table of grammar, style, and usage writing explained.
Insure makes the distinction that the definition of ensure is to make sure something will or wont happen, whereas insure means to issue an insurance policy. All three verbsassure, ensure, and insure have their roots in a latin word for safe or secure. To ensure is to do or have what is necessary for success. Also, insure is typically reserved for financial meanings. Mignon fogarty has 14 books on goodreads with 12538 ratings. Covering the grammar rules and word choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers, grammar girl makes complex grammar questions simple with memory tricks to help you recall and apply those troublesome grammar rules. Assure is used to speak out a promise or say something with confidence i assure you that he is a great lawyer. I will assure ensure insure my car as required by law. Its like using grey, the british spelling, instead of gray. I believe writers who use grey are striving for that. Mignon fogarty, whose popular podcasts have been downloaded over twenty million times and whose first book. All three of these words are used in specific instances, so its important to keep track of insure vs. If a that clause follows the verb, you must use ensure.
Continue this thread view entire discussion 6 comments. Assure means to tell someone that something will definitely happen. Aug 14, 2012 i always use insure because ensure denotes pomposity. Only people can feel anxious or doubtful only they can be assured. I assureensureinsure you that i have been honest about the money i spent. Grammar girl presents the ultimate writing guide for. Check out this list of common grammatical errors to make sure youre not slipping up. Aug 28, 2018 grammar girl provides short, useful tips on grammar that are easy to remember and easy to put into practice. Help support the grammarphobia blog with your donation.
All three verbs have something to do with making sure and are therefore similar, but each of them has a distinct meaning that makes it better suited for some uses than the other two. To ensure my familys safety, i have installed an alarm. Assure, ensure and insure are word triplets that are most commonly confused in english language by many writers. Nov 14, 2006 in both the us and the uk, assure means to set someones mind at rest, though its sometimes used in the uk to mean underwrite financial loss. Also derived from securus are the english words sure, assure, secure, and security. Lots of folks use insure, ensure, and assure interchangeably. Mignon fogarty is the founder of the quick and dirty tips network and creator of grammar girl, which has been named one of writers digests 101 best websites for writers multiple times. While these words sound similar theres no situation where they could mean exactly the same thing. I will assureensureinsure my car as required by law. 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.
I believe writers who use grey are striving for that same pomposity. Traditionally, enquire simply meant ask, while inquire was used for formal investigations. 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. His work is great and should ensure the survival of his business. Grammar girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing. Both types of shakes provide adequate nutrition to support normal body growth, development and maintenance. Written with the wit, warmth, and accessibility that the podcasts are known for, grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing covers the grammar rules and wordchoice guidelines that can confound even the best writers. 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. All three words are derived from the latin word securus, meaning secure, and they have.
Compare it versus grammar difference between assure vs ensure. Assurance is the guarantee that something will happen however insurance is the policy that covers up any losses. Grammar girl presents the ultimate writing guide for students is a complete and comprehensive guide to all things grammar from grammar girl, a. Jan 01, 2008 to the delight of word nerds everywhere, grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing came out yesterday. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing by.
In both the us and the uk, assure means to set someones mind at rest, though its sometimes used in the uk to mean underwrite financial loss. Ensure and ensure plus are often used in diets to gain or maintain a healthy weight. Aug 19, 2016 the words assure, ensure, and insure are among the common terms that are often misused and interchanged. To insure something or someone is to cover it with an insurance policy. Grammar girls expertise is also available in a fulllength book, which is available in paperback and e book. Id recommend teaching your students the most common uses and.
The three words, assure, ensure, and insure, are often confused. Assure vs ensure the english language can be very confusing if one is learning it as a foreign language. Klems is the editor of this blog, online editor of writers digest and author of the popular gift bookoh boy, youre having a girl. In the uk, the two words are used interchangeably, although inquire is still the more commonly used word for formal. Grammarly helps every writer of every skill level to write better. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing book. Ensure to make sure something will or wont happen example. James assures, ensures, insure his dog gets enough exercise by running with her each morning. Books by mignon fogarty author of grammar girls quick. I always use insure because ensure denotes pomposity. Assurei mean, ensuregood writing by mark nichol once upon a time, professional and amateur writers alike could count on books and publications to help guide them in writing clearly, coherently.
Get grammar girls take on assure versus ensure versus insure. I assure ensure insure you that i have been honest about the money i spent. These words do not have the same meanings, sounds or spellings but their very close. These words do not have the same meanings, sounds or spellings but their very close spellings and pronunciation is the root cause of all the confusion we have to face. I would be most grateful if you could tell me the difference between assurance and insurance. And while were at ensureinsure, lets throw in assure. To the delight of word nerds everywhere, grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing came out yesterday. Assure is something that you tell to another person, something that can feel doubt or uncertainty. One 8ounce serving of ensure contains 250 calories, 9 grams of protein and 6 grams of fat. Apostrophe colon comma dash ellipsis exclamation point hyphen parentheses period question mark quotation. Check the phone book to find a company that can assure, ensure.
Theres a large overlap between insureand ensure when it comes to their definitions, and many people find it hard to differentiate the two. All three words are derived from the latin word securus, meaning secure, and they have some similarities in their definitions. Learn the definitions of insure, assure, and ensure, and when to use them. Apr 17, 2018 assure is usually used in conversation, to help someone understand that everything is ok. Aug, 2007 i find it interesting that, during an argument for grammar, your very first sentence contains a rather nasty little comma splice. The noun of assure is assurance and the adjective of assure is assured. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing is an educational podcast produced by mignon fogarty that was launched in july 2006 and the title of a print book by fogarty that was released in. With the trademark wit, warmth, and approachability that the podcasts are known for, grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing covers the grammar rules and word choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers. Theres a large overlap between insure and ensure when it comes to their definitions, and many people find it hard to differentiate the two. Ensure plus contains more calories and protein per serving than ensure. Mauricio saved money from every paycheck to assure ensure insure he could buy gifts for his family at the end of the year. Therefore, ensure the tradition of excellence is a better choice. Written with the wit, warmth, and accessibility that the podcasts are known for, grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing covers the grammar rules and wordchoice guidelines that. It is possible to use the spelling of insure, ensure, and assure to distinguish the three words from one another.
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