tobeeasy.^^nmnM *o

(NAmE) ‘Will you be there?’ ‘For sure.’ “#A®r? ” “# a£A₀ ” make 'sure (of sth/that ...) 1 to do sth in order to be certain that sth else happens ilE: Make sure (that) no one finds out about this.

Jc iMfifeTAA 0 They scored another goal and

made sure of victory. fifefij Xit 7 —7 o o Our staff will do their best to make sure you enjoy your visit. 2 to check

that sth is true or has been done jit HU, ^

) : She looked around to make sure that she was alone. ftfefifePSTJUT#, tAo 0

1 think the door’s locked, but I’ll just go and make sure.

'sure

of yourself (sometimes disapproving) very confident ft fg; ft IX A H: She seems very sure of herself. M&F #7 jf ft fig <, .sure 'thing (informal, especially NAmE) used to say Ves’ to a suggestion or request ( )

^ , — /E : ‘Are you coming?’ ‘Sure thing. ’ “ fifc

n^? ,” “§I» ” to be 'sure (formal) used to admit

that sth is true ( A^I^iA: He

is intelligent, to be sure, but he’s also very lazy. fife |U

w, umm*

m adv. (informal, especially NAmE) 1 used to say Ves’ to sb ( I^I M ) it $7 ‘Will you open the wine?’ ‘Sure, where is it?’ ftm

)lⁿM? ” 0 Did it hurt? Sure it hurt.

2 used to emphasize sth that you are saying ( ftp ?M

H ) Boy, it sure is hot. iiAJLoT

0‘Amazing view.’‘Sure is.’ “fc-fejflto ” “'/£

₀ ” 0 That song sure as hell sounds familiar, fil ^ o 0 He sure looked unhappy, fife ift M fi # 7 M t£₀ 3 used to reply to sb who has just thanked you for Sth ( 0^fifeAWlitf ) ‘Thanksfor

the ride. ’ ‘Sure—anytime. ’ "iMfiT'icIfeilAo ” “7

” EE51 (as) sure as eggs is eggs (old-fashioned, BrE, informal) used to say that sth is definitely true AJtAfil; (ftfftiilfil .sure e'nough used to say that sth happened as expected ( ^A7ih#f$4 ) ^#7 I said he’d forget, and sure enough he did.

smfife^&iB, immjtBJo

SYNONYMS

sure

confident ♦ convinced ♦ certain ♦ positive

These words all describe sb who knows without doubt that sth is true or will happen. IXXIfiilifttHfiifg, It

sure [not before noun] without any doubt that you are right, that sth is true, that you will get sth or that sth will happen ‘Is that

John over there?’ ‘I’m not sure. ’ h%? ” ” o Are you sure about that?

o England must win this game to be sure of

qualifying, imtmmumm

$T₀ rci*V83 Sure is often used in negative statements and questions, because there is some doubt or anxiety over the matter. If there is no doubt, people often say quite sure. * sure ffi

^ AH fa 0®#^ quite sure: I’m quite sure (that) I left my bag here (= I have no doubt about it).

confident completely sure that sth will happen in the way that you want or expect tl #/£■, WJfiS:

I’m quite confident that you’ll get the job. ffe# Af/Rlbf# o The team feels confident of winning.

I'fNYfii Confident is a stronger and more definite word than sure and is more often used in positive statements, when you feel no anxiety.

* confident ® surejTl&fLlf®,

convinced [not before noun] completely sure that sth is true or right, especially because the evidence seems to prove it or sb else has persuaded you to believe it

sure-fire adj. [only before noun] (informal) certain to be successful or to happen as you expect i&AEfii; # a sure-fire success )&?)]

.sure-'footed adj. 1 not likely to fall when walking or climbing on rough ground P 7 ft (ft ;

2 confident and unlikely to make mistakes, especially in difficult situations (ft; jit fit (ft

WHICH WORD? islif surely ♦ certainly

■ You use surely, especially in BrE, to show that you are almost certain about what you are saying and you want other people to agree with you. * surely ^ A^i£lftT&/l7#£AH, «113iJAfaIcftBlft Surely this can’t be right? & XoJtisJl^jftBE? Surely in negative sentences shows that something surprises you and you do not want to believe it. surely ^AA

tfcfisWXISfflfi: You’re surely not thinking of going, are you? fi^7J17jIA^BB ? a Certainly usually means ‘without doubt’ or ‘definitely’, and is used to show that you strongly believe something or to emphasize that something is really true. * certainly fifc£#fe,

I’ll certainly remember this trip! In informal NAmE

this would be : I’ll sure

remember this trip!

a Compare The meal was certainly too expensive

(= there is no doubt about it). Ait7 ( ^

) o and ffl The meal was surely too expensive? (= that is my opinion. Don’t you agree?)

«%? )

b In formal language only surely can be used to mean ‘without doubt’. 4¹, surely :

This will surely end in disaster. IX

o note at course, sure

'm. rm

convinced that she’s innocent. l^iB^^tfeJltf S certain [not usually before noun] sure that you are right or that sth is true jtfilfg, AH: Areyou absolutely certain about this? A

sm?.

SURE OR CERTAIN? sure &M. certain ?

Like sure, certain is often used in negative statements and questions. It is slightly more formal than sure; sure is more frequent, especially in spoken English. * certain

insure-#, <Stfc sure fgJH

sure^tffi,

positive [not before noun] (rather informal) completely sure that sth is true lift, She

was positive that he’d been there, jrtfefiftfgfife^f&^o o ‘Are you sure?’ ‘Positive. ’

#£o ”

PATTERNS AND COLLOCATIONS

b sure/confident/convinced/certain/positive about sth b sure/confident/convinced/certain of sth a sure/confident/convinced/certain/positive that... b sure/certain who/what/how, etc. a to be/feel/seem/sound sure/confident/convinced/ certain/positive

p quite/absolutely/completely/fairly/pretty sure/ confident/convinced/certain/positive a not altogether sure/confident/convinced/certain a (not) very sure/confident