Timeline for “Make sure to” vs. “Be sure to”: Is the first one correct?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
7 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Aug 4, 2013 at 11:51 | history | edited | FumbleFingers | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Aug 4, 2013 at 4:17 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | ...I, on the other hand, can feel fairly good about it, because apparently Brits are slightly ahead of Americans re this trend. Even at 60, I find the make version comfortable. I've never liked the "infinitive" format anyway - I'd always tend to add the (to me, "missing") pronoun you and just use a normal tensed verb in a normal imperative. For me, "[You] Shut that door!" becomes "[You] Make sure you shut that door!" (not "Be sure to shut that door!"). | |
| Aug 4, 2013 at 4:09 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | @Sridhar-Sarnobat: You'd be unwise to take any comfort from the fact that the graph might appear to show that. As per my answer, the true decline will be greater than the line suggests, since many of the later instances will be quoting earlier text, historical novels, etc. And the written form always lags behind emerging idiomatic trends in speech. Your cause is already lost, I'm afraid. | |
| Aug 4, 2013 at 3:57 | comment | added | Sridhar Sarnobat | The only consolation for me (30 years old) is that "be sure to" is maintaining its usage frequency rather than declining. | |
| Aug 4, 2013 at 3:53 | vote | accept | Sridhar Sarnobat | ||
| Aug 4, 2013 at 3:52 | comment | added | Sridhar Sarnobat | Wow, great evidence. I've never heard of Ngram viewer (and I work for Google!). You make a begrudgingly credible argument against my position. Growing older is so hard. | |
| Aug 4, 2013 at 3:50 | history | answered | FumbleFingers | CC BY-SA 3.0 |