How to Use ascertain in a Sentence

ascertain

verb
  • With his books closed to outsiders, the truth was hard to ascertain.
    — Michael D'antonio, CNN, 20 Jan. 2022
  • In fact, these practices are designed to ascertain what is the truth.
    — Time, 11 Sep. 2017
  • 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
  • Whether there is more is difficult to ascertain.
    — Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2026
  • Astronomers first needed to ascertain its true size.
    — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 5 Mar. 2026
  • This trip was no different, but maybe a bit harder to ascertain.
    — Allen Buchanan, Oc Register, 25 Oct. 2025
  • This will ascertain their true motivation and fit for the role.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes, 29 June 2021
  • More needs to be done to ascertain the intent and the actions of the ship throughout its travels.
    — Ariel Cohen, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2021
  • Each record will have to be manually reviewed to ascertain the cause of the change.
    — Jason Alatidd, USA Today, 26 Feb. 2026
  • The true scope of the problem is hard to ascertain and address, a lawmaker said.
    — Mike Levine, ABC News, 14 June 2023
  • 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 fashion developments of scrubs can be hard to ascertain with the naked eye.
    — New York Times, 9 June 2021
  • My staff produces the budget, which is then reviewed to ascertain what cuts may be needed.
    — Ric Bradshaw, Sun Sentinel, 23 July 2024
  • Police have not yet been able to ascertain why the ATV flipped.
    — Chris Mayhew, The Enquirer, 12 May 2021
  • Officials said a post-mortem would be conducted to ascertain the cause of death.
    — Michael Dorgan, Fox News, 2 Mar. 2024
  • Flores ascertains the garment requires a great shoe or boot to complete the look.
    — Julia Guerra, InStyle, 28 Jan. 2026
  • 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 pair quickly ascertained that a skier was still attached to the skis, and bee-lined toward him.
    — David Caraccio, Sacbee.com, 26 Feb. 2026
  • Those with concerns can take proactive steps to ascertain and mitigate their risks.
    — Virginia La Torre Jeker, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
  • Now, the fates of both Jokic and Murray have been ascertained.
    — Jason D. Greenblatt, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Apr. 2025
  • For example, staffers tried to ascertain exactly where the source shot the video.
    — Brian Stelter, CNN, 21 Oct. 2019
  • This recount was necessary to ascertain the will of the voters.
    — Matthew Alvarez, The Mercury News, 9 May 2024
  • 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
  • Dujarric stressed that the board will only ascertain the facts of the attacks and will not assess blame.
    — Washington Post, 13 Sep. 2019
  • 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
  • But how much of the odor has been contained or neutralized is difficult to ascertain.
    — Joe Mozingo, chicagotribune.com, 26 Aug. 2019
  • The amount of the increase, which was first reported by Bloomberg, couldn’t be ascertained.
    — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 23 Feb. 2026
  • Tentpoles are good for the box office but the indie market is still waiting to ascertain if big movies can boost small ones.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 26 July 2024
  • The amount of Plaintiff's damages will be ascertained at trial.
    — Sophie Clark, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 May 2025
  • All of these exist to ascertain fair and just IP law and policy.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 Apr. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ascertain.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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