difficult to assure

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "difficult to assure" is not correct in standard written English.
It may be intended to express a challenge in providing certainty or guarantees, but it is not commonly used in this form. Example: "It is difficult to assure the clients that the project will be completed on time due to unforeseen circumstances."

⚠ May contain grammatical issues

Science

News & Media

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

19 human-written examples

Still, he added, he thought it would now be difficult to assure workers of an ever-rising Dow.

The New York Times

Even if communication proves to be difficult, rational decision-makers should avoid unprovoked attacks, because their success would be very difficult to assure.

Acta Astronautica

Specifically, these type of PEH are difficult to assure because no evidence may be available on their development and limited functional descriptions may exist to perform a safety assessment.

Microprocessors and Microsystems

The entire process is expected to be completed in about a year, according to the agreement, but officials and diplomats say that will be difficult to assure, particularly because the government does not have enough money to cover such an enormous operation.

The New York Times

However, in real deployments, it is difficult to assure the presence of a relay node for each pair of nodes.

EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking

(2) Air quality assurance The drill and blast method with trackless transportation is adopted, which is very difficult to assure the air quality during the tunneling.

Journal of Modern Transportation

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

41 human-written examples

Difficult to tell.

The Economist

The difficult question is how to assure that all students receive the financial support they need to become contributing members of society while not denying other students the unique opportunities provided by the county's lighthouse districts.

The New York Times

In terms of validity of the research findings, also known as generalizability, which refers to the extent to which the findings can be applied to other research settings, Saunders et al. (2012) argued that it is difficult for any researcher to assure complete validity or generalizability.

International Journal of Disaster Risk Science

It would be difficult, Anderson said, for manufacturers to "assure us that a helmet that would absolutely prevent concussions is doable".

The New York Times

Without a low-duty-cycle MAC and routing in a communication protocol, it is difficult for all previous work to assure low latency associated with energy efficiency and tracking accuracy.

EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When aiming for clarity and conciseness, replace "difficult to assure" with stronger alternatives like "hard to guarantee" or "challenging to ensure" to improve readability and impact.

Common error

Avoid relying heavily on the phrase "difficult to assure" in formal writing. While understandable, it's not the most polished phrasing. Diversify your language by using alternatives that provide similar meaning with greater precision and stylistic flair.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "difficult to assure" functions as an adjective phrase followed by an infinitive. It describes the degree of ease or difficulty associated with providing assurance or certainty. Although understandable, Ludwig AI indicates that it is not the best standard English. Examples show usage across varied contexts.

Expression frequency: Common

Frequent in

Science

50%

News & Media

44%

Formal & Business

6%

Less common in

Academia

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Wiki

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, the phrase "difficult to assure" is used to express challenges in providing certainty or guarantees. While understandable, Ludwig AI signals that it's not considered standard English and suggests that stronger alternatives such as "hard to guarantee" or "challenging to ensure" are preferable. Its usage is most common in scientific and news contexts, but avoiding it in formal writing will help improve clarity and impact. Replace with strong alternatives depending on context.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

hard to guarantee

Replaces "difficult to assure" with more common synonyms for both "difficult" and "assure".

challenging to ensure

Substitutes "difficult" with "challenging" and "assure" with "ensure", offering a slightly different tone.

tough to ascertain

Replaces "difficult" with "tough" and "assure" with "ascertain", indicating a problem in determining something with certainty.

not easy to confirm

Uses a negative construction to convey difficulty in confirming something.

hard to ascertain

A combination of the two previous alternatives, "hard" instead of "difficult", "ascertain" instead of "assure".

difficult to guarantee with certainty

Adds "with certainty" to emphasize the lack of guarantees and increase the wordiness of the phrase.

not straightforward to secure

Uses "not straightforward" as a more descriptive replacement for "difficult", and "secure" in place of "assure".

proving difficult to ensure

Inverts the structure to highlight the ongoing difficulty in ensuring something.

it's tough to provide assurances

Rephrases the sentence to focus on the act of providing assurances and how tough that is.

hard to ensure consistently

Highlights the challenge of ensuring something happens consistently.

FAQs

What are some alternatives to "difficult to assure"?

You can use alternatives like "hard to guarantee", "challenging to ensure", or "tough to ascertain" depending on the context.

Is "difficult to assure" grammatically correct?

While understandable, "difficult to assure" is not considered standard English. It's preferable to use more common and grammatically sound alternatives.

In what contexts might I use "difficult to assure"?

While you might encounter "difficult to assure" in some informal or technical contexts, it's generally better to use more precise language. Consider "hard to guarantee" or "challenging to ensure" in formal writing.

How can I improve my writing by avoiding phrases like "difficult to assure"?

Focus on using stronger verbs and clearer phrasing. Instead of "difficult to assure", think about what specific action is difficult and what the desired outcome is, then express that directly. For example: "It's hard to guarantee consistency."