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01/06/10, 02:53 PM
When to Use Insure
Insure does relate to the buying and selling of insurance. However, people can also use it to mean "to make sure, certain, or secure," according to yourDictionary. While you can often substitute ensure for insure, it is most often used in relation to the insurance industry in American English. For example:
John and Jodi needed to insure their home against flood damage.
Insuring your home in anticipation of natural disasters is a good idea.
Barbara got insured after she spoke to her local agent.
When to Use Ensure
Ensure and insure can be considered synonyms because of their interchangeability. In fact, insure is actually within the definition of ensure at yourDictionary: "to make sure or certain; insure." Use ensure in the following ways:
The dog was ensured that his owner would be home soon.
Billy was to ensure that the computer was packed safely.
He double-checked the stove to ensure it was off before leaving on vacation.
You can also use insure in any of the previous sentences ( Billy was to insure that the computer was packed safely .) without changing the meaning of the sentence, according to yourDictionary. While either way is technically correct, it is important to note again that insure is most frequently associated with the commercial insurance industry. In that instance, you cannot substitute ensure for insure.
When to Use Assure
Just like insure and ensure, assure means "to make certain; ensure," according to yourDictionary. However, as yourDictionary points out, only assure is used "with reference to a person in the sense of 'to set the mind at rest.'" To illustrate this, consider the following examples:
Suzanne assured Robby that his report to the board was excellent.
Kelly was head over heels for Bill, but she did not feel assured that he felt the same way.
When his mom picked him up, the baby was assured she was there for him.
Three Helpful Hints
Knowing the meaning of insure, ensure, and assure does not help differentiate among the three words, because they all have the same definition. Despite that, they cannot always be used interchangeably.
To help you remember when to use each word, keep the following three hints in mind:
• You assure a person.
• You insure your car.
• You ensure everything else.
Again, it is okay to swap ensure for insure unless it relates to protecting people or property against risks like floods, death, hurricanes, and the like. Assure cannot be used in place of either insure or ensure, and is the only word which should be used to relate to a person's feelings.
http://www.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules/Insure_vs_Ensure.html:lovesick:
Insure does relate to the buying and selling of insurance. However, people can also use it to mean "to make sure, certain, or secure," according to yourDictionary. While you can often substitute ensure for insure, it is most often used in relation to the insurance industry in American English. For example:
John and Jodi needed to insure their home against flood damage.
Insuring your home in anticipation of natural disasters is a good idea.
Barbara got insured after she spoke to her local agent.
When to Use Ensure
Ensure and insure can be considered synonyms because of their interchangeability. In fact, insure is actually within the definition of ensure at yourDictionary: "to make sure or certain; insure." Use ensure in the following ways:
The dog was ensured that his owner would be home soon.
Billy was to ensure that the computer was packed safely.
He double-checked the stove to ensure it was off before leaving on vacation.
You can also use insure in any of the previous sentences ( Billy was to insure that the computer was packed safely .) without changing the meaning of the sentence, according to yourDictionary. While either way is technically correct, it is important to note again that insure is most frequently associated with the commercial insurance industry. In that instance, you cannot substitute ensure for insure.
When to Use Assure
Just like insure and ensure, assure means "to make certain; ensure," according to yourDictionary. However, as yourDictionary points out, only assure is used "with reference to a person in the sense of 'to set the mind at rest.'" To illustrate this, consider the following examples:
Suzanne assured Robby that his report to the board was excellent.
Kelly was head over heels for Bill, but she did not feel assured that he felt the same way.
When his mom picked him up, the baby was assured she was there for him.
Three Helpful Hints
Knowing the meaning of insure, ensure, and assure does not help differentiate among the three words, because they all have the same definition. Despite that, they cannot always be used interchangeably.
To help you remember when to use each word, keep the following three hints in mind:
• You assure a person.
• You insure your car.
• You ensure everything else.
Again, it is okay to swap ensure for insure unless it relates to protecting people or property against risks like floods, death, hurricanes, and the like. Assure cannot be used in place of either insure or ensure, and is the only word which should be used to relate to a person's feelings.
http://www.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules/Insure_vs_Ensure.html:lovesick: