‘To Confirm’ vs ‘To Verify’: What’s the Difference? While the distinction may seem small when looking at these words, knowing which to use will help clarify your work. Both words have to do with finding and checking information, but they function differently depending on what exactly is being done with said information.
In a rush? Here’s a short version of what we’ll cover today:
As mentioned, both ‘To Confirm’ and ‘To Verify’ have to do with establishing the quality of a piece of information. Typically these words deal with truthfulness and accuracy and thus can often overlap or be considered synonyms of each other.
So how do we tell them apart? The best way to do this is to consider timing. Confirming something typically comes after the information has been revealed, while verifying information typically occurs before or in the process of discovering information.
An easy way to remember this timing trick is to consider whether you already have the information or are still seeking it out.
Another thing to consider is what kind of information you’re dealing with. Typically hard facts require verification, while stories or narratives require confirmation. Verification helps determine that a fact is accurate, while confirmation helps determine whether a story is true.
Of course, in some cases, verification and confirmation may be used interchangeably, but they may not be used in the most accurate setting. Now that you know a bit more about our new words, let’s take a closer look at ‘To Confirm’ vs ‘To Verify.’
According to Oxford Languages, ‘To Confirm’ is a verb that means:
It can also mean:
According to Oxford Languages, ‘To Verify’ is a verb that means:
An interesting note here and a helpful memory trick is that the word ‘Verify’ comes from the Latin word “verus” which means “true.”
Since spoken language is just as important as written language, we like to equip you with everything you need to use these words in conversation or a presentation. This includes knowing how to pronounce these new words.
Use the following guide to learn a basic pronunciation of these words.
Use this phonetic spelling of ‘To Confirm’ for reference:
Use this phonetic spelling of ‘To Verify’ for reference:
Given that ‘To Confirm’ vs ‘To Verify’ are so similar, here are some example sentences to clarify how they are used differently. As a reminder, though, these words can appear as synonyms, so there is no need to keep them separate. But, here are some examples to help you with context.
Identifying the difference between words that are sometimes considered synonyms can be tough, but knowing what sets them apart can be the key to presenting your best work. In the case of ‘To Confirm’ vs ‘To Verify,’ one last helpful hint may be to consider their individual synonyms to see what context they should appear in. Otherwise, remember the trick of timing.
Want to review it? Here is a short recap of what we covered:
Learning the distinction between synonyms is a great way to expand your vocabulary, and you can find more tricky synonyms and other confusing words on our website. Be sure to keep the context in mind as you navigate new words, and don’t be afraid to develop your own language tricks to keep things straight in your mind and your writing.
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