were certain in vs were certain about

Both "were certain in" and "were certain about" are commonly used phrases in English, but they are used in different contexts. "Were certain in" is used when referring to a specific situation or circumstance, while "were certain about" is used when talking about a belief, opinion, or knowledge.

Last updated: March 25, 2024 • 967 views

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

"were certain in"

This phrase is used when referring to being sure or confident in a specific situation or circumstance.

Examples:

They were certain in their decision to move to a new city.
She was certain in her belief that everything would work out.
He was certain in his choice of career path.

Show examples from the web [+]

There were certain errors in your report of the incident.
And needless to say, there were certain risks in taking on these subjects.
There were certain things in my life I always wanted to keep to myself.
I'm not the least bit sorry... because there were certain mistakes made in my case...
I would like to say to you, with the greatest of respect, that there were certain governments in the past, during the dictatorships, that massacred the people.
There were certain key points in the report with which we did not agree, but we were quite satisfied with others.
Clinical outbreaks of that disease were confirmed in certain regions of Asia.
In Thailand, tissue-culture or purified duck-embryo vaccines were effective in certain category II post exposures.
As soon as they were certain the bomb was in borough 13 they called you, so you could activate it.
Yesterday we were certain that everything was in order and we were ready to grant discharge, but in the course of the night we knew better.
Consumer protection measures were often incorrectly implemented or were lacking in certain spheres (such as private pensions and healthcare services).
They were interested in certain skilled personnel.
- data used were in certain cases of insufficient quality,
If people were granted certain rights in the Member State of origin they should continue to be entitled to them.
Madam President, I would like to ask whether you said there were mistakes in certain language versions.
Certain people were struck in the face.
Furthermore, certain assumptions were revised in September 2004.
What were certain people thinking in October 2002, when they approved the spending for the period we are dealing with?
Having received this company's reply to the questionnaire response following the initiation of the proceeding, it was noted that there were certain deficiencies in information regarding its export sales to the Community and the resales of its related importer in the Community.
These reports confirmed that the countries continued to fulfil the Copenhagen political criteria although further efforts were still needed in certain areas.

Alternatives:

were confident in
were sure in
were convinced in
were resolute in
were unwavering in

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

"were certain about"

This phrase is used when talking about being sure or confident about a belief, opinion, or knowledge.

Examples:

They were certain about the outcome of the project.
She was certain about her decision to study abroad.
He was certain about the location of the meeting.

Show examples from the web [+]

You were certain about it a moment ago.
You were certain about it a moment ago.
I just wish I were as certain about some of the answers to these questions as are many of those whose voices are currently raised so loud.
Certain threats were made about sharing the fruits of my labor, atrocities I believe you called them, with the authorities.
We were somewhat concerned about certain aspects of the strategic document presented by the Austrian Presidency and, in our view, it was vital that the report should set out these concerns very clearly.
You see, a lot of those escaped cons were talking about a certain...
There is nothing certain about speculation.
...and be absolutely certain about.
I'd like to be more certain about my criteria...
I'm not so certain about that.
But you seemed very certain about this.
There is little certain about the origins of BSE.
I'm also pretty certain about you.
There's nothing certain about what we do.
Just once I would like to know something for certain about this case.
But I never felt more certain about my stance.
Everybody nice and certain about their position in my world.
Whenever I think I'm certain about something, I'm always surprised.
Told you I was certain about my information regarding the Urca.
Your friend's very certain about things.

Alternatives:

were sure about
were confident about
were convinced about
were clear about
were definite about

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were certain in vs were certain about

"were certain in"

"were certain about"

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