Which to use
“enduring” is an adjective and “ensuring” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,692
- “enduring” frequency rank
- #7,130
- “ensuring” frequency rank
- 18822
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | enduring | ensuring |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Long-lasting without significant alteration; continuing through time in the same relative state. | present participle and gerund of ensure |
Where the eye mixes enduring and ensuring
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses enduring with ensuring
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: enduring is /ɪnˈdjʊə.ɹɪŋ/ while ensuring is /ɪnˈʃʊəɹɪŋ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “enduring” becomes s in “ensuring”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18822, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
enduring is recorded at frequency rank #11,692, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈdjʊə.ɹɪŋ/. ensuring is at rank #7,130, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈʃʊəɹɪŋ/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 18822, this pair ranks #442,330 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of enduring vs ensuring
Shared letters: eginru. Private to "enduring": d. Private to "ensuring": s.
"enduring" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC · "ensuring" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "enduring" and "ensuring" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "enduring" or "ensuring"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "enduring" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ensuring" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #442,330 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "enduring" and "ensuring" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "endearing vs enduring". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #442,330 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.