Meaning & use
assure
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To tell someone firmly that something is true or will happen so that they stop worrying.
Grammar: The person is the object, followed by that or of: I assured her that all was well.
Patterns
- assure someone that something is true
- assure someone of something
The pilot assured the passengers that the flight was safe.
He assured her of his support.
I can assure you the food is fresh.
verbtransitiveformal
To make something certain or sure to happen.
Grammar: The object is the thing made certain, not a person: the win assured their place.
Patterns
- assure something
The victory assured the team a place in the final.
Hard work will assure your success.
The agreement assured peace for a generation.
verbtransitiveBritishbusiness
To provide life insurance coverage.
Grammar: Used mostly in British insurance language, with life assurance a common term.
Patterns
- assure a life
The company assures thousands of lives each year.
He was assured for a large sum.
Life is assured through a monthly premium.
Word forms
| third person singular | assures |
|---|---|
| past tense | assured |
| past participle | assured |
| -ing form | assuring |
Common combinations
- assure someone that
- The doctor assured him that the test was routine.
- rest assured
- Rest assured, we will fix the problem.
- assure someone of support
- The manager assured her of full support.
- I can assure you
- I can assure you that nobody is angry.
- assure success
- Good planning will assure success.
- be assured
- You may be assured of a warm welcome.
Synonyms and how they differ
- reassure
- Reassure focuses on calming someone who is anxious, whereas assure may simply state that something is true.
- promise
- Promise commits you to doing something, while assure only gives confidence that something is true.
- convince
- Convince means making someone believe through argument or evidence, not just telling them.
- guarantee
- Guarantee is firmer and often legal, promising a result or replacement if it fails.
Opposites
Word family
- assurance noun
- a promise, or a feeling of confidence
- assured adjective
- confident, or certain to happen
- assuredly adverb
- certainly
- reassure verb
- to calm someone's fears
- self-assured adjective
- confident in yourself
Commonly confused: assure or ensure? assure or insure?
assure vs ensure
Ensure means to make sure something happens, and its object is usually a thing. Assure takes a person, as in assure her that it is safe.
assure vs insure
Insure means to protect with an insurance policy, mostly in American English.
Practice
The teacher ___ the nervous students that the exam would be fair.
Choose one answer.
Assure takes a person as its object and then a that clause. Ensure and insure do not take a person in this pattern, and assume has a different meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “assure”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.