Insuring or Ensuring? What’s the Difference?

Vocabulary / By

When you see the word ensure, you might think that it’s just a common misspelling of the word insure. However, these are actually two different words with slightly different meanings, and they just sound alike.

These words sound alike, look alike and actually have pretty similar meanings. However, they can’t be used in place of each other because they are different. Ensure means to make certain that something happens and Insure means to arrange for compensation in case of an emergency. 

Insuring is the present participle of the verb “to insure”

Ensuring is the present participle of the verb “to ensure”

Ensure

Ensure means that there is a guarantee that something will happen. When you are ensured of something, that person is going to make sure it happens. It can also be used to make sure that a problem will not occur. For example, a wedding planner might ensure that there will be no mishaps on the wedding day.

Examples
He looked everywhere to ensure no one was listening to their conversation.

The girl took several fake turns to ensure no one was following her.

My maid of honor made it a point to ensure that my future mother-in-law won’t ruin the wedding.

Insure

Insure means you are protecting something with an insurance plan. You are taking precautions to make sure you are covered in case there is an accident. For example, you insure your car to get a payout if your car is totaled. You might insure your engagement ring in case it gets lost or stolen so you can replace it.

Examples
Does your job give you the option to insure your family?

You should always insure a gift before sending it in the mail.

Did you know there is an insurance plan that allows you to insure your pets?

What’s the Difference?

People use these words interchangeably because they don’t realize that they are different from each other. Both share a similar meaning of guaranteeing something to somebody, but the usage depends on the context.

Ensure means making something happen, while insure means providing a payment in the case of an accident. Insure is typically only used in insurance situations, while ensure can be used in a wide variety of situations.

If you are discussing protecting something to get a payment if there is an accident, you will use insure.

If you are talking about making sure someone gets something or making sure something specific happens, you will use ensure.

Remembering the Difference
Once you know the meaning of each word, it is much easier to remember the difference between them. The easiest way to remember is insure starts with an I just like insurance. Insure is used to describe something that is protected by an insurance plan.

Assure?

Assure was the first of these three words to make its way into the English language. It meant that you could trust and rely on someone. Today, the word is used to describe a state of confidence or knowing something for sure.

Examples
I can assure you that cloning dinosaurs is not a good idea.

My kids are very deep sleepers, I assure you.

I spent several extra hours studying to assure I could pass the exam.

Summary

Insure and ensure sound exactly the same, are spelled almost the same, and have very similar meanings. It comes as no surprise that these words are often considered to be interchangeable with each other. However, these words can’t be used in place of each other, and it depends on the context to determine which word to use.

Insure is mostly used in insurance situations. When you purchase an insurance plan for your house, you insure it. Ensure refers to making sure something will or will not happen. After reading this article, I ensure you will understand the difference between insure and ensure.

Conor
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