Ensure and insure are two words that are commonly confused due to the fact that they look and sound so similar.
While they are quite close in meaning, it’s important to understand when to use ensure and when to use insure if you want to write clearly and effectively.
Can You Use Ensure and Insure Interchangeably?
Although these two words are used interchangeably quite often, you technically cannot do so in your writing.
Both ensure and insure have their own unique definitions. Ensure means to make sure something happens, while insure means to protect someone or something with an insurance policy.
What Does Ensure Mean?
To ensure something means to guarantee or make sure that it will happen. (Or, you might also ensure that something doesn’t happen).
Ensure is also the brand name of a nutritional shake.
How Do You Use Ensure in a Sentence?
- To ensure that they made the deadline, he worked overtime last night.
- You should always wear a helmet when riding a bike to ensure your safety.
- This medicine will ensure you get a god night’s sleep .
- She studies hard to ensure good grades on every report card.
- I double checked my wallet to ensure that my credit card was there.
What Does Insure Mean?
To insure a person or thing is to cover them with an insurance policy. If something happens to the person or thing that is insured, the insurance company will compensate them in some way for the damages.
Insure can also mean to protect against something. For example, “Regular exercise can help to insure you against a number of health problems.”
How Do You Use Insure in a Sentence?
- Julia Roberts’s smile is insured for $30 million.
- The insurance company won’t insure our house against earthquakes.
- Does the company insure its workers?
- My dog broke his leg, but luckily he is insured with pet insurance.
- By winning Sarah’s favor, they insured themselves against potential obstacles down the road.
Ensure vs. Insure
By learning the difference between ensure and insure, you can avoid one of the most common writing mistakes.
Be sure to review some other commonly confused word pairs, such as compliment vs. complement or every day vs. everyday.
