Confusing Words: Ensure and Insure and Assure (verbs)
Meaning:
Ensure (make certain that (something) will occur or be the case.)
Insure (arrange for compensation in the event of damage to or loss of (property), or injury to or the death of (someone), in exchange for regular payments to a company or to the state.)
Assure (tell someone something positively to dispel any doubts.)
Ensure vs Insure vs Assure Clarification: The three words ensure, insure and assure are easy to be mixed up because of slightly same usage and meanings.
Ensure vs Insure vs Assure – What is the Difference, Definition and Meaning?
The reason behind the confusion between ensure, insure and assure is that these words are very similar in meanings. All these words are very similar in pronunciation and they are just two-letters apart.
That is why, people get confused between these words i.e. ensure, insure and assure. You cannot use these words interchangeably because they have different situations to use in. I will point out the differences in meanings with examples. Continue reading to clear your ideas!
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Ensure
This particular word is used as a verb within sentences. To ensure is to give an event or condition a guarantee or certainty to be happened or not. For example,
1. This medicine ensures that I will be perfectly fine by tomorrow.
2. The banker’s job ensures him that he will get a better lifestyle.
3. The only way to ensure equality for women is to clearly declare it in our constitution. (Carolyn Maloney)
Insure
Like ensure, insure is also used as a verb within a sentence. This particular term is related to financial responsibility that someone will give to protect something. So, the meaning of insure is to protect something with an insurance policy. For example,
1. Did you insure your house against any disaster?
2. His car is already insured by the company.
3. I got insured when I was two years old.
Assure
Like ensure and insure, assure is used as a verb too. To assure means to make promise or to convince someone in a positive way. This assure is meant to remove doubts or to satisfy someone. For example,
1. You always assure me that you will be fine living alone.
2. I want to assure you that there is going to be a big party at my place.
3. Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater. (Albert Einstein)
Got the difference?
I hope that from the above discussion, the difference between ensure, insure and assure is now clear. All three words are used as a verb within sentences. You have to remember that you can ensure any condition or event but not things. On the other hand, insure is only for the things like insurance policies. Assure can be easy to differentiate because of its slightly different pronunciation. You can assure to remove any doubts of someone.
What Did You Learn?
The three words ensure, insure and assure are easy to be mixed up because of slightly same usage and meanings. Ensure is to give certainty or guarantee to a condition or an event.
Like ensure, insure is also a verb with different meaning. Insure means to protect something with an insurance policy. Last but not the least, assure means to make promise positively.