“Just to make sure” isn’t always a great formal phrase. Many people avoid using “just” in formal contexts because it takes away from the tone. This article will explore some options that can work in place of “just to make sure.” There are some great alternatives available here.
The preferred synonyms are “to make sure,” “wanted to be sure,” and “to ensure.” These work well in formal English because they show that you’re checking something. You want to make sure it is correct before you continue to the next thing.
To Make Sure
“To make sure” is a great choice. Surprisingly, removing “just” from “just to make sure” makes it much more formal and acceptable in most forms of English. Most people prefer to avoid using “just” because it is redundant.
You can use this phrase to show that you are trying to figure out all the potential outcomes of something. It shows that you’re weighing up all actions before deciding anything final.
- I’m checking to make sure you’ve received my invoice. If there’s anything else you need from me now, just let me know.
- Can I make sure that you’re doing this? I need to see confirmation that you know what you’re working on with this piece.
In an email, it works like this:
- Dear Sam,
- I’m writing to make sure you’ve sorted this all out.
- I can’t keep waiting around for this to be completed without any feedback.
- Let me know if there’s anything I can do.
- Mr. Frederickson
Wanted To Be Sure
“Wanted to be sure” works really well in many formal cases. It shows that you wanted to “be sure” of something, meaning that you’ve had a plan to check in on all the things relating to a situation or outcome.
Once you have confirmed all the working parts, you will “be sure” of whatever is happening. This will help you feel more comfortable moving on to the next stage, whenever that may be.
- He wanted to be sure that things were going as planned. You should let him know that he doesn’t have anything to worry about.
- They wanted to be sure that they were on the same page. That’s why they spoke to each other the way they did.
You could include it in an email as follows:
- Dear Mary,
- I wanted to be sure that you didn’t need any help.
- If there’s anything I can do to give you a hand with this, just contact me.
- Thank you very much,
- Dean
To Ensure
“To ensure” is a great formal alternative. It works well because it shows that you are “ensuring” success with something that you’re working on. Many people prefer “ensure” to “make sure” in formal English.
Some people believe that “make sure” is redundant when “ensure” is an option. Since the two words are synonymous, it seems to make more sense that “ensure” is used in place of “make sure” because it stops there from being an unnecessary extra word.
- To ensure that you don’t have to worry about these things, we’ve changed how they can occur. You will be able to focus again now.
- To ensure that everything is covered, we’ve made it a lot easier to work through each case study. Hopefully, that helps.
You could include it in an email like so:
- Dear Mr. Harris,
- To ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again, we’ve put a few things in place that should change how we do things.
- All the best,
- Sarah
To Be Sure
“To be sure” works really well in many situations. It shows that you are trying to “be sure” of something before it happens. You will be able to use this one when you want to check all the possible outcomes to see what’s going on.
This phrase is great when you have a large team that you need to check in on. If each person is doing something different, you might want to discuss it with all of them “to be sure” of what comes next.
- I need to be sure that they want to do this. I can’t sign off on something like this without their direct confirmation.
- I want to be sure, but I’m not sure if anyone is going to agree with me on this one. Do you have any ideas that might help?
Here’s a quick example to show you how it might look in an email:
- Dear Maria,
- To be sure that you can be trusted, we’ve had to install some cameras around your office.
- We hope you don’t mind that measure.
- Apologies for any inconvenience,
- Greg, The IT Guy
To Be Certain
“To be certain” is another great synonym. It works well because it makes sure that no stone is left unturned. You can use it repeatedly until you are convinced that you have all the information you could need to guarantee what’s happening.
“Certain” means that you are convinced and don’t need any further clarification. You can only be certain of something once you’ve checked with all the appropriate people and made sure you know what’s going on.
- They’ve put all of this forward to be certain that you are on the right team for the job. They’re testing you as we speak.
- I needed to do this to be certain of my own feelings. I wanted to ensure that things worked as well as I had hoped.
You could include it in a formal email as follows:
- Dear Sue,
- You need to be certain before committing to something like this.
- Things won’t work out well if you’re not certain.
- Kind regards,
- Smithy
To Be Confident
“To be confident” is a good option if you’re trying to cover all the issues you might come across. You can use this one to show that you’re covering all the potential errors that might come out of something.
The more errors you can cover and correct, the more “confident” you can be about something. That’s why it’s good to use this one to check in on the people doing the work.
- You need to be confident that you can fix this mess. I appreciate that means you have a few things you need to do first.
- Can you try to be confident moving forward? I think if you ask the right questions, you should get to the bottom of the issue.
Here’s a quick email example to help you out:
- Dear Mrs. Carter,
- I want to be confident in this matter. That’s why I’m relying on you to help me out with it.
- Do you think you can do that?
- I look forward to hearing from you,
- Sharon
Guarantee
“Guarantee” works really well as a formal substitute. It shows that you’re looking for confirmation or certainty before moving forward. You can “guarantee” something by checking in with the people who are responsible for doing it.
- I wanted to guarantee everyone’s safety. That’s why these measures have been put in place. It’s nothing personal.
- Make sure you guarantee the truth out of them. We need to be certain before we move to the next phase.
An email example could help you to figure this one out better:
- Dear Missy,
- I need to guarantee your commitment to this team. That’s why I’ve asked you to be the only person to report to me.
- I hope that’s okay,
- Ryan
To Check
“To check” works well as an alternative. It’s not as popular as “to make sure” or “to confirm,” but that doesn’t mean it’s less effective. Some people just don’t use “check” compared to the other ones.
It’s still a good formal option. You can use it to check in on the people on your team to make sure things are going according to plan.
- I’m doing this to check that things have gone according to plan. Is there anything that didn’t go all that well?
- She wanted to check to find out more about the situation. That’s why she wrote those emails the way she did. It’s simple, really.
Here’s a quick email example to help you with this:
- Dear Pete,
- I needed to check with you before I could move forward. I needed the go-ahead from someone who was on the other side.
- All the best,
- Storm
To Verify
“To verify” is a great one you can use. “Verification” is important in any business, so “to verify” allows you to find out why something might have happened the way it did. It allows you to discuss things with people before making any final decisions.
- You need to verify the answers with them. Go back in that room, and don’t come out until you’ve made sure everything makes sense.
- It was supposed to be used to verify the situation before anything bad happened. It was overlooked quite quickly.
In an email, you can include “to verify” like this:
- Dear Mr. Bean,
- I’m writing to verify that you have everything in place. Is there anything else you need from my team or me?
- I look forward to hearing from you,
- Fred