Assure vs. Ensure vs. Insure - Get That Righteous Feeling

I was once in a meeting with some colleagues when I used the word "ensure" in the context of making sure something happens. To my surprise, a woman in attendance corrected me on the spot. She said I had confused "insure" with "ensure." The Duke Ph.D. in English part of me rankled at this, and I told her that while the two verbs have similar connotations, their meanings were the opposite of what she said. But she held her ground over this interesting point of grammar. I realized she had a strong need to be right, and with an open mind said, "You may be right," and let it go.

Today, 30 years later, I remembered this incident. Don't ask me why. At my age a lot of off-the-wall memories pop into my mind. Maybe my life is flashing before my eyes.

So just to be sure, I googled it, and the top-rated grammar website happened to be my favorite: GrammarBook.com. If you're ever concerned whether you're about to make a fool of yourself by misusing the English language, I highly recommend it. Search for the issue, or get the book and keep it close.

It's amazing the mistakes people make, especially news and sports announcers. Book authors not so much; they have editors to keep them straight.

Here is what Grammar Book says about assure vs. insure vs. ensure:

Assure is to promise or say with confidence. It is more about saying than doing.
Example: I assure you that you’ll be warm enough.

Ensure is to do or have what is necessary for success.
Example: These blankets ensure that you’ll be warm enough.

Insure is to cover with an insurance policy.
Example: I will insure my home with additional fire and flood policies.

So. I was correct. And even better, I restrained myself from arguing about it at the time. I just love righteous memories.

Post by Dennis E. Coates, Ph.D., Copyright 2015. Building Personal Strength .

She Didn't Graduate High School. She Graduated FROM High School.

When people make grammatical mistakes when interacting with me, it doesn't bother me at all. It happens all the time in conversation. Even I, with my high-and-mighty Ph.D. in English from Duke University, feel free to add salt and pepper to my conversation. No big deal.

But when the whole culture, the whole nation starts making a certain mistake, that's serious business. it really gets on my nerves, and I want to take the gloves off.

A couple years ago I started hearing this phrase, "He graduated high school." Or "She graduated college."

What?

Where the hell did this grammatically incorrect usage come from? Television?

But also, why did people pick up on it? Why suddenly go with an incorrect usage that makes no sense and doesn't sound right? Is it really because people are lazy - they don't have to say "from"? Or maybe they're insecure - they think that if others are saying it, they must be smarter.

It's grammatically incorrect to say, "She graduated high school."

A teenager can't graduate a high school. When "graduate" is used as a verb, it means

1. To be granted an academic degree or diploma. "He graduated in 2002."
2. To change gradually or by degrees. To advance to a new level of skill, achievement, or activity. "After a summer of diving instruction, they had all graduated to back flips."
3. To grant an academic degree or diploma to: "The teachers hope to graduate her this spring."
4. To arrange or divide into categories, steps, or grades. To divide into marked intervals, especially for use in measurement.

A student can't graduate an institution, such as a high school or college. A student can't grant a degree to a high school. A student can't divide a high school into smaller segments. A high school can graduate its students, however.

A student CAN graduate FROM a high school. And this is how 100% of English-speaking people used to say it until a few years ago.

If you've used the phrase, "graduate high school," I understand. Everyone is saying it, so why question it.

But now that I've explained it, you understand that it's grammatically incorrect. I've clarified the issue. You know the difference. You know better. So stop saying it incorrectly. I don't expect you to correct other people, as I'm doing here, though that would be commendable.

But if you choose to persist in saying it incorrectly...well, you're illiterate.

My other grammatical hot-button...

Post by Dennis E. Coates, Ph.D., Copyright 2011. Building Personal Strength . (Permission to us image purchased from fotolia.net)

Grammar Lesson - The Mistake That Bugs Me the Most

You may know that I have a Ph.D. in English from Duke University. Translation: I know the rules of grammar. Don't get me wrong. I've never taught grammar, and I sometimes break the rules myself. Not by mistake, though. Deliberately, when doing so helps me communicate more effectively. I was taught how to do this. I am licensed to break the rules.

But there's a particular point of grammar that people get wrong so often that I almost never hear people get it right. Even media spokespeople who ought to know better. It's gross.

It's not that a traditional rule has evolved into a modern rule. It hasn't. It's that people think they're saying it right, and they're not. And it bugs the hell out of me. So much so that I've decided to clear the air. To lay down the law. Finally. So here goes....

If someone said to you, "Me appreciate what people say..." what would you think?

I'm pretty sure you'd think the person was illiterate, wouldn't you? It's such a glaring grammar error that you almost never hear it. Of course, the proper way to say this is, "I appreciate what people say...."

Because when the first person is the subject of the verb, you use the pronoun "I." I appreciate. Not me appreciate.

When the first person is the object of the verb. you use the pronoun "me." For example, "People appreciate me...." To indicate who people appreciate, you'd never say, "People appreciate I."

Subject (performs the action) > VERB > Object (is acted upon)

"I" > VERB > "me"

So far so good. This rule is so obvious that you almost never hear this mistake.

But when when referring to more than one person, most people get it wrong. For example, I recently watched a video in which an expert in marketing said, "Me and Dean appreciate what people say..." He wasn't accidentally misspeaking. He said it three times.

This is incorrect. You wouldn't say, "Me appreciate..." so you wouldn't say "Me and Dean appreciate..." or "Dean and me appreciate..." The pronoun me is always used as the object, not the subject.

The correct way of saying this is "Dean and I appreciate..."

But the grammar error that bugs me the most is also the most common. People everywhere will say, "He was always kind to Jill and I."

This is incorrect because the subject pronoun "I" is used as the object of the preposition "to." The first person pronoun for an object is "me." It's incorrect to say "kind to I," and so it's incorrect to say "kind to Jill and I."

The correct way to say this sentence is, "He was always kind to Jill and me."

This isn't a judgment call. This has always been the rule, and it still is. Any magazine or book editor knows the difference and will make the correction every time.

And yet, I hear this mistake all the time, even by professionals in broadcasting. It's as if their grammar teachers all taught them the wrong rule. They think that if you refer to yourself along with another person, you have to always use the pronoun "I."

And that's incorrect.

Use "Jill and I" if the two of you are the subject of the verb. Example, "Jill and I never go to the movies anymore."

Use "Jill and me" if the two of you are the object of a verb or preposition. Correct grammar:  "To Jill and me, movies are too expensive." Or, "When you find a movie worth seeing, tell Jill and me."

Not tell I. Not tell Jill and I.

Tell me. Tell Jill and me.

INCORRECT - "The comment embarrassed he and his friend." You wouldn't say, "The comment embarrased he." You'd say, "The comment embarrassed him."

So the CORRECT usage is - "The comment embarrassed his friend and him."

Got it?

You've been informed, as clearly as I can explain it. If you persist in making this gross mistake, I don't care how many celebrities grin in front of the camera and say it wrong, don't make this mistake in my presence, or I guarantee you I'll think you're illiterate.

You can trust me on this one. I'm a doctor.

Post by Dennis E. Coates, Ph.D., Copyright 2011. Building Personal Strength .