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Assure, ensure and insure -- three similar sounding words with three distinct meanings. Make sure you know the difference.
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More information on the words discussed in the video, including sound files, examples of usage, common mistakes and encyclopaedic information, can be found in TransLegal's Legal English Dictionary.
Hi, my name is Angelique Vega and welcome to TransLegal's lesson of the week.
Today we're going to be discussing the differences between assure, ensure and insure.
Starting with assure. It's to make someone sure of something, especially by telling them something positively so they no longer have any doubts. For example:
"the tour operator assured me that my children would be totally safe on their adventure holiday".
Another example:
"I can assure you that my fellow grand jurors treated me as an equal",
"they have put systems in place to assure quality output".
These are three examples of how you can use assure.
We're going to now move onto ensure. Ensure is to make certain. For example:
"we must ensure that the benefits can be enjoyed by all",
"the Police must ensure that those responsible are charged in court",
"they do not always check to ensure that the tube originates at the desired location".
Again, ensure is to make certain.
And moving on lastly to insure. It is to protect yourself against risk by paying a company money in return for the company paying your costs in case of an accident, injury, theft or damage to your property. For example:
"under the scheme the government will insure banks against losing more money from loans and investments",
"the company was insured against accidents in the workplace".
This is how you use insure.
Okay, just to recap the differences between assure, ensure and insure. Assure – to make someone sure of something by telling them something positively so they no longer have doubts. Ensure – to make certain. Insure – to protect oneself, person or object against risk.
Thank you very much. If you have any questions or comments, please put them below. Bye.
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