ascertain out

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "ascertain out" is not correct and not usable in written English.
The correct term would be "ascertain" on its own, which means to find out or determine something. Example: "We need to ascertain the facts before making a decision."

⚠ May contain grammatical issues

Science

News & Media

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

1 human-written examples

Conclusion: To ensure accurate population-based cancer survival rates, linkage with the National Death Index to ascertain out of state and late registered deaths is a necessary process for US central cancer registries.

Cancer Epidemiology

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

59 human-written examples

To ascertain the out of pocket (OOP) expenditure by patients due to HAI. 147 post-operative patients (47- cases with HAI and 100-controls, without HAI) meeting inclusion criteria, matched for sex ratio and type of surgeries were included in the final sample.

Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control

The study was also limited in that we did not ascertain the out-of-pocket expense for herbal remedies by patients, although most stated that herbal medicines (which we supposed were processed, imported products) were more expensive than conventional medicines.

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

The slogan "As if God did not exist" implies a simple and convincing message: We don't have to ascertain or rule out God's existence to be able to embrace the secular tradition.

HuffPost

In fact we could neither ascertain nor rule out the use of contraceptives in the control group.

Health and Quality of Life Outcomes

Despite the genetic similarity in the strains, no attempt was made by the researchers to ascertain and rule out the source of the outbreak in Bangladeshi policemen stationed at Mirebalais between September and October 2010.

Emerging Infectious Diseases

During the assessment visit, patients will also be asked to complete a short questionnaire to ascertain their out of pocket expenses for attendance (Additional file 1: Appendix 3), health status (EQ-5D) [ 36], job type (using CASCOT software) and the COPD Assessment Test.

BMC Pulmonary Medicine

"If you want to find out whether Company A is weighing a merger with Company B, one way to find out is to ascertain whether any executives from Company A recently visited Company B. And businessmen have known for a long time now not to fly certain French airlines, since they eavesdrop and record passengers' conversations".

Forbes

To determine the optimum strategy for offering out-of-hours appointments, subgroup analysis was carried out to ascertain whether this effect is modified by prevalent or incident status, static or mobile screening sites, age of invitee, and time of year of appointment.

British Journal of Cancer

People are obsessed with the idea that we've never had it so good, as a recent sold-out debate with that title at the Royal Geographical Society set out to ascertain.

The Guardian - Opinion

The vet came out to ascertain the cause of death, and National Parks collected the horn.

The New Yorker

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Use "ascertain" without the preposition "out". It's a more direct and grammatically correct way to express the act of finding something out.

Common error

Avoid adding "out" after "ascertain". The word already implies finding something out, making the addition unnecessary and incorrect.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "ascertain out" functions as a verb attempting to convey the action of discovering or finding something. However, it's considered grammatically incorrect; the verb "ascertain" already encompasses the meaning of finding something out. As Ludwig AI points out, the addition of "out" is unnecessary.

Expression frequency: Rare

Frequent in

Science

50%

News & Media

50%

Formal & Business

0%

Less common in

Encyclopedias

0%

Wiki

0%

Reference

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, while the phrase "ascertain out" might seem intuitive, it is generally considered grammatically incorrect. The verb "ascertain" already includes the meaning of finding something out, making the addition of "out" redundant. Ludwig AI confirms this assessment. It's better to use "ascertain" on its own or opt for alternative phrases like "find out" or "determine". Although some occurrences exist, these are infrequent, thus the phrase is not recommended for formal writing. Usage is spread across scientific and news media contexts, but this doesn't validate the phrase's correctness.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

determine

This alternative removes the preposition "out", focusing solely on the act of finding something definitively.

find out

This alternative uses a more common phrasal verb to express the act of discovering information.

discover

This focuses on the act of uncovering something previously unknown.

establish

This implies setting something as a definite fact after investigation.

verify

This suggests confirming the truth or accuracy of something.

confirm

This emphasizes validating or proving something to be true.

learn

This is a general term for gaining knowledge or information.

uncover

This implies revealing something that was previously hidden.

elicit

This focuses on drawing out information or a response from someone.

deduce

This involves reasoning to arrive at a conclusion.

FAQs

Is "ascertain out" grammatically correct?

No, the correct term is simply "ascertain". Adding "out" is grammatically incorrect and redundant.

What does "ascertain" mean?

"Ascertain" means to find something out for certain; to make sure of something.

What can I say instead of "ascertain out"?

Use alternatives like "find out", "determine", or "establish".

How to use "ascertain" correctly in a sentence?

Example: "We need to ascertain the facts before making a decision." Avoid adding "out" after "ascertain".