How to Use ascertain in a Sentence

ascertain

verb

• Because Scarlet was dragged out to sea, researchers will not be able to ascertain her cause of death by performing a necropsy, which can only be done with beached whales.
  — Sarah Gibbens, National Geographic, 3 May 2017
• My point in reviewing all this is straightforward: even without screening Roots into the Future will be able to ascertain the likelihood of fraud and deception.
  — Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 27 July 2011
• 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 man appears to be injured, but the extent of his injuries is hard to ascertain based on the video.
  — Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 23 June 2024
• 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
• By measuring the weight of the insect catch -- known as the biomass -- from each of the Malaise traps, researchers were able to ascertain the drop in insect numbers.
  — Euan McKirdy, CNN, 19 Oct. 2017
• 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
• The first person to ascertain that is the squatter on the Gardners’ land, Ezra (Chong, of course), but who would believe this stoner?
  — G. Allen Johnson, SFChronicle.com, 22 Jan. 2020
• 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
• This recount was necessary to ascertain the will of the voters.
  — Matthew Alvarez, The Mercury News, 9 May 2024
• 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
• Phillips told the outlet that the Navy will investigate the letter to ascertain its authenticity and the sender's identity.
  — David Chiu, Peoplemag, 9 Aug. 2024
• Circumstances at hand and the person involved will ascertain whether the costs of thinking are greater than the benefits, which are constantly changing and situationally dependent.
  — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024

Last Updated: 18 Dec 2024