Assure vs Ensure

Compare it Versus > Grammar > Difference between assure vs ensure

Assure vs Ensure
The English language can be very confusing if one is learning it as a foreign language. 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 meanings. For instance, we have two words that seem to have the same meaning as they also sound the same, but are used differently: assure and ensure. Let us try to break down the similarities and differences of these two words for their proper use.

First, we have to discuss the striking similarities of these two terms and understand why they are easily mistaken of each other. In terms of etymology, the two words actually came from the Latin word securus, which means safe and secure. As such, both words connote the same feeling of being worry-free.

Although both words are transitive verbs and have the same etymology, the main difference essentially lies on how these words are used in a sentence.

Assure is the same as promising a person or another noun so as to remove all doubt. Basically, assuring someone is making that person confident of something that is favorable for that person. Used in a sentence, this is how the verb looks like:

Ex. I assure you that nothing will go wrong later.

The sentence above implies that the subject “I” assures “you” that things will go as plan later. One can go as far as saying that “you” has been worrying something, and “I” would like “you” to stop worrying by assuring that person. Technically, the object of the verb “assure” is another noun, which in this case, is “you”.

Ensure, on the other hand, is used to guarantee a state or a result. Used in a sentence, this is how the verb looks like:

Ex. I am buying two more bottles of water to ensure we have enough water for later.

The sentence above implies that the subject “I” would like to ensure that they will be fully hydrated so he or she is buying additional bottles of water. It is apparent here that what is ensured is not a noun. Rather, what is ensured is a result or a condition, which, in this case, is to have enough water.

Because these two words sound the same, look the same, and even have the same latin origins, people would always make the same mistake of using one instead of the other. Scholars and grammatical teachers would usually give English learners an easy way to make sure that they will always remember which word to use: Ensure has two E’s, just how guarantee has two E’s as well. So one just has to remember that Ensure, having two E’s, also means to guarantee.

To reiterate how these seemingly similar words are used, the main difference of the words assure and ensure is that the verb assure has another noun as its object, while the word ensure has a condition or a state as its object.