How to Use ascertain in a Sentence

ascertain

verb

• Whether the group set a speed record is hard to ascertain.
  — Beth Bragg, Anchorage Daily News, 31 Aug. 2019
• With his books closed to outsiders, the truth was hard to ascertain.
  — Michael D'antonio, CNN, 20 Jan. 2022
• Police have not yet been able to ascertain why the ATV flipped.
  — Chris Mayhew, The Enquirer, 12 May 2021
• But did the Rams call the Packers to ascertain whether Rodgers was available?
  — Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2021
• In fact, these practices are designed to ascertain what is the truth.
  — Time, 11 Sep. 2017
• From the very first episode, O’Neill and Schmidt are at each other’s throats for reasons that are hard to ascertain.
  — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 1 Mar. 2018
• More needs to be done to ascertain the intent and the actions of the ship throughout its travels.
  — Ariel Cohen, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2021
• The researchers couldn’t ascertain the exact species of the squids in the videos (there are three in the Magnapinna genus).
  — Rachael Zisk, Popular Science, 13 Nov. 2020
• For hours, the men pulled out bodies, one by one, trying to ascertain who was alive, who was dead.
  — Rozina Ali, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2022
• The true scope of the problem is hard to ascertain and address, a lawmaker said.
  — Mike Levine, ABC News, 14 June 2023
• And for a guy that was born blind, Midón utilizes all his senses to ascertain the big picture.
  — Grant Yanney, NBC News, 12 May 2017
• The fashion developments of scrubs can be hard to ascertain with the naked eye.
  — New York Times, 9 June 2021
• And the goal is to just ascertain which kinds of students were most likely to have miss school during the pandemic?
  — Shannon Rae Green, USA TODAY, 22 Aug. 2021
• Clearly, the goal of this documentary isn’t to solve the mystery of her death or to ascertain whether there was foul play.
  — Los Angeles Times, 5 May 2020
• For example, staffers tried to ascertain exactly where the source shot the video.
  — Brian Stelter, CNN, 21 Oct. 2019
• In her first days on the job, Burleigh’s main goal was to ascertain two things — the pre-existing strengths of the Pride team and why those strengths have worked so far this season.
  — Julia Poe, orlandosentinel.com, 31 July 2021
• For example, the Navy wanted to ascertain whether there was land between the northern coasts of Alaska and the pole.
  — David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Jan. 2022
• This will ascertain their true motivation and fit for the role.
  — Expert Panel®, Forbes, 29 June 2021
• The regular season left us all as blind men with the elephant, unable to ascertain what was in front of us.
  — Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 14 Apr. 2022
• Unable to enter the burning home, the deputy broke windows and tried to ascertain whether anyone was inside the house.
  — Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Dec. 2021
• This muddies the waters and makes any real change brought about by the ACA to date difficult to ascertain.
  — Gus Alexiou, Forbes, 24 Oct. 2021
• Dujarric stressed that the board will only ascertain the facts of the attacks and will not assess blame.
  — Washington Post, 13 Sep. 2019
• Assuming Winslow carried a phone with him, his location at the time of the crimes could be ascertained.
  — Michael McCann, SI.com, 16 June 2018
• There is no place on our coast, the longitude of which from Greenwich is so well ascertained as Boston.
  — Scientific American, 6 Feb. 2020
• At the same time, hard figures are difficult to ascertain.
  — Charlie Campbell, Time, 25 May 2022
• And the Soviet wished to ascertain that the Emperor was indeed here.
  — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, National Review, 14 Oct. 2021
• He’s been described as a billionaire or wealthy financier, though the exact amount of his wealth has yet to be ascertained.
  — Fox News, 11 July 2019
• Twitter, social media, and the court of public opinion are not the best means to ascertain and establish the truth.
  — Justin Barrasso, SI.com, 28 Feb. 2018
• Police said firefighters arrived at the scene as the fire broke out but were unable to ascertain if the fire was inside the dropbox.
  — Anthony Leonardi, Washington Examiner, 26 Oct. 2020
• The Journal Sentinel has spent months battling for records to ascertain what is happening in labs across the country.
  — Ellen Gabler, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 22 Oct. 2021

Last Updated: 9 May 2024