5-Minute English: 5 “SURE” Phrases

Hey everyone, I'm Alex from engVid. Thanks for clicking and welcome to this video on

five useful phrases with the word "sure". So, "sure" means "certainly" or "absolutely"

or "okay" in some cases. So, the word "sure" by itself can be used to accept an invitation

or to accept a request for something. So, for example, if someone asks to borrow your pencil,

if they say, "Can I borrow your pencil?" You say, "Yeah, sure." "Sure" means "certainly",

"okay", "no problem", okay? If someone invites you for something and they say, "Hey, do you

want to come for lunch with me and my sister?" You say, "Lunch? Sure." Or, "Yeah, sure."

Now, two other phrases that you can use that are similar to just saying "sure" are "for sure". So,

in those scenarios that I just gave you, you can say "for sure" to give some emphasis to the word

"sure" or you can say "sure thing". So, for example, if someone says, "Hey, do you want to

come to my house tonight?" "Yeah, sure thing." Okay. "Hey, can I borrow your car this evening?"

"Sure thing. I am not using it." Or, "For sure, I'm not using my car. You can borrow my car this

evening." Probably someone who you know very well because you don't just lend your car to anyone.

Now, another phrase that you can use with the word "sure" and this one, I say it's one, but

it's really many, many, many because you can add "sure" plus an auxiliary verb. So, for example,

"sure did", "sure can", "sure do", "sure would", "sure will". So, this is a way of adding emphasis

which basically means, "Yes, I did." Or, "Yes, I can." Or, "Yes, I would." Or, "Yes, I will." So,

for example, if someone says to you, they're kind of asking you to confirm information. So, they say,

"Hey, did you see that movie last night? Because we talked yesterday and you told me you were

going to see that movie. So, did you see that movie?" Another way to say, "Yes, I did," is,

"Sure did." So, "sure" plus an auxiliary verb. For example, "Oh, wow, can you play guitar?"

"Sure can." You are emphasizing that, "Yes, you can." So, "Hey, would you really do that in that

situation?" "Sure would." So, you can say, again, "sure" plus an auxiliary verb. The only one that

we don't really use in casual, informal situations because it sounds a little weird is,

"sure should" because of the "sh-sh". It just sounds a little strange. But most auxiliary verbs like,

"Sure do." "Hey, do you like comics?" "Sure do." "Hey, did you go there yesterday?" "Sure did."

"Hey, can you do that?" "Sure can." So, this just means, "absolutely" or "Yes, I did." "Yes,

I can." "Yes, I would." Now, finally, we have the phrase, "make sure." So, this means to check

and be certain of something. Leave no doubt that something was done or will be done or has been

done. So, for example, you can give an imperative with, "Hey, make sure to lock the door." So,

if you are leaving the house with, you know, your friend and your friend says,

"Make sure to lock the door." It's your roommate. If I say, "Make sure to back up your files."

Like, if you, you know, have a computer, a laptop, you need to make extra copies of your files,

make sure to back up your files. Or, "We made sure." So, we checked, we made certain that we

did something. We made sure to close the door or we made sure to prepare lunch for our children

or something like this before we left the house. I don't know. So, to make sure, make certain,

check, make sure means there is no doubt left of something. So, I hope this video has given you

some useful, casual phrases with the word "sure." Just to review, it is "sure," "sure thing,"

"for sure," "sure can," or "sure did," "sure do," "sure would," "sure will," and "make sure."

I hope you, you know, repeated those as I said them during the video.

If you want to check your understanding of these phrases, make sure to do the quiz that is attached

to this video, and I'm sure that you will do just fine if you've listened to me until this moment.

Until next time, thanks again for clicking. I wish you nothing but success in all of your studies.