The term to make sure is derived from make sure, a verb that in turn has its origin in the Latin word certiorare. Making sure is confirming or guaranteeing something. For example: “The government, before making the announcement, tries to make sure that the opposition will not veto the project”, “The police chief toured the hotel to make sure of the security of the building”, “Teachers must make sure that what happens before making a decision ”.
Suppose a man named Miguel borrows money from his brother Cristian, promising that he will pay it back the following month. Before handing him the money, Cristian tries to make sure that his brother really has the ability to pay the debt on time. To do this, he asks you a series of questions about your employment situation, your income, etc. Once he is sure that it is feasible for his brother to return the money within the established terms, Cristian makes the loan.
When hiring an employee, on the other hand, an employer tries to ensure that the right candidate is selected for the position. With this objective, he summons three applicants who have been shortlisted, conducts an interview with each one and then takes a test to demonstrate their skills. Once the employer has decided on one of the candidates, he communicates with the people his potential employee mentioned as references on his resume. All these actions serve to ensure that this applicant is the right one to join your company.
In everyday speech, the term make sure is used quite frequently, so it is not exclusive to the formal or written sphere. However, in informal conversations one of its synonyms may be more common, such as “verify” or “make sure.” As in any other case, the choice of the word always depends on several factors: beyond cultural and academic issues are personal preferences and the influence of the workplace (the jargon of each profession modifies the way an individual speaks independently of its background).
When conjugating a verb and placing it in a sentence, it is not enough to know its alterations throughout the tables of verb tenses, but there are other aspects to take into account, both in terms of its morphology and the rules it imposes on us to elaborate a clear and correct message from a grammatical point of view.
In the first place, it is necessary to highlight that the verb to make sure is pronominal, that is to say that to construct its conjugation we must add an unstressed reflexive pronoun at the end, taking into account who carries out the action. In other words, we have an obligation to ensure that it agrees both in person and in number with the subject of the sentence; for example: “(I) should make sure”, “(you) should make sure”, “(they) should have made sure”.
Although the original verb in its pure state is “make sure,” it is used much more frequently in its reflexive form. In addition to what was stated in the previous paragraph, it is always possible to keep the reflexive unstressed pronoun separate from the verb: “Wait here while I make sure no one is in the garden. “
One of the most common mistakes when using this and other verbs occurs when it comes time to use prepositions. In this particular case, it is necessary to come up with the following construction: “make sure that”. If we omit the preposition of the message is affected in a subtle but not mild way; To avoid this error, we must replace by “this” the part of the sentence that begins with the word that: “make sure of this” is correct; “Make sure this” is wrong.
