Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use certain in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, determiner, pronoun

Certain means sure in one's mind, positive; absolutely confident in the truth of something. Example: “I was certain of my decision.”

Examples of certain by meaning

adjectiveSure in one's mind, positive; absolutely confident in the truth of something.

  • I was certain of my decision.

adjectiveNot to be doubted or denied; established as a fact.

  • Now that more experiments have been run, the theory is certain and the argument is settled.

adjectiveSure to happen, inevitable; assured.

  • Bankruptcy is the certain outcome of your constant gambling and lending.

adjectiveFixed; regular; determinate.

  • at certain intervals

adjectiveParticular and definite, but unspecified or unnamed; used to introduce someone or something without going into further...

  • Every wine has a certain distinctive character which sets it apart from all others.
  • Each morning, she would see a certain man rush past her window on his way to work.

adjectiveUsed to denote that the speaker is referring to a specific person or thing that they do not want to name directly...

  • I would have been here on time, but a certain someone lost the car keys!

adjectiveNamed but not previously mentioned.

  • Looking inside the cover, they learned that the book had once belonged to a certain R. Jones.
  • About 140 years ago, for example, a certain Hsü Kuang-ming established an ancestral estate in Wanluan consisting of ten hectares.1972, Burton Pasternak, “Kinship”, in Kinship & Community in Two Chinese Villages, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN...

adjectiveUsed before the name of someone famous that people are expected to know.

  • Since the last British government to make such a proposal was that of a certain Margaret Thatcher, it might not seem unreasonable.

More sentences with certain

  • If the government doesn't tighten the money supply, inflation is certain to be harsh.From the entry tighten
  • Garments made of certain new materials breathe well and keep the skin relatively dry during exercise.From the entry breathe
  • For those of a certain age, hiphop vernacular might just as well be a foreign language.From the entry vernacular
  • She was bent about "certain kinds of people" having civil rights; she wanted to roll those back.From the entry bent
  • A human being burns a certain amount of carbon with each respiration.From the entry burn
  • The terms of the contract inadvertently left certain unbound aspects to subjective interpretation.From the entry unbound
  • There are certain states where it is lawful to execute prisoners convicted of certain crimes.From the entry execute
  • The prosecution moved to suppress certain items turned up during discovery.From the entry discovery
  • We rewrote certain communications templates to use a more formal register.From the entry register
  • The therapist explained how certain muscles adduct the leg toward the body.From the entry adduct
  • The trans effect is the labilization of ligands which are trans to certain other ligands.From the entry trans
  • A certain piece of land is part and parcel of another piece.From the entry parcel
  • An officer is attached to a certain regiment, company, or ship.From the entry attach
  • Above a certain elevation, the aspens gave way to scrubby, gnarled pines.From the entry aspen
  • An expert, given a certain query, will often come up with a crisp answer: “yes” or “no”.From the entry crisp
  • The cis effect is the labilization of ligands which are cis to certain other ligands.From the entry cis
  • Further to our recent telephone call, I am writing to clarify certain points raised.From the entry further
  • Certain anise-flavored drinks have developed a mystique based on the exotic appearance of louching.From the entry louche
  • He has a propensity for lengthy discussions of certain favorite topics.From the entry propensity
  • The men were sent over the top to their certain death.From the entry over the top
  • Seizures can be caused by exposure to certain poisons or toxins.From the entry seizure
  • In certain conditions, immune cells may infiltrate into the cerebrospinal fluid.From the entry infiltrate
  • You may only carry on items that are smaller than a certain size.From the entry carry on
  • There was a certain laxness in safety preparations that made the fire worse.From the entry laxness
  • The books on top of the piano resonate when he plays certain notes.From the entry resonate
  • My new shampoo has a certain soapiness to it that makes it harder to wash out.From the entry soapiness
  • The journalist decided to leave out certain details from her story.From the entry leave out
  • Phosphorus will only begin to luminesce at a certain small pressure of oxygen.From the entry luminesce
  • Feel not ashamed, if you can afford only PnP versions of certain games.From the entry PNP
  • Certain minerals may exsolve into the atmosphere from an erupting volcano.From the entry exsolve

Meaning of certain

  1. adjective Sure in one's mind, positive; absolutely confident in the truth of something.
  2. adjective Not to be doubted or denied; established as a fact.
  3. adjective Sure to happen, inevitable; assured.

Full definition of certain

Questions about certain in a sentence

How do you use certain in a sentence?
Certain is used as an adjective, determiner and pronoun. For example: “I was certain of my decision.”
What is a short sentence with certain?
“at certain intervals”
What does certain mean?
Certain means sure in one's mind, positive; absolutely confident in the truth of something.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: certain (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use certain in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/certain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.