I have a question about the usage of "make sure". I saw recently an EFL teacher give an example sentence which included ".... make sure to + bare infinitive" e.g. Make sure to bring a toothbrush when you go on holiday.
This sounds a bit odd to my British ear. I checked this sentence database and found many examples, from many different countries including the UK, of "makes sure to..." https://fraze.it/n_search.jsp?q=makes+sure+to&l=0&t=0&ffo=false&findid=-1&ff=
Interestingly, the example sentences in Collins all use the structure "make sure [+that] + subject" https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/make-sure
Merriam Webster has only two example sentences https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/make%20sure but again, they adopt the construction "make sure [+that] + subject"
What do people think? Is this a usage that emanates from the USA? Is it more acceptable to say "make sure to..." in the imperative form?
I thought of something else.
You will also hear "Be sure and bring your book."
These all mean the same thing:
Make sure (that) you bring your book.
Make sure to bring your book.
Be sure (that) you bring your book.
Be sure to bring your book.
Make sure and bring your book.
Be sure and bring your book.
In the US, we would use both of these. I think that would be true for the entire country, although I am not certain.
We have a few expressions that sound completely normal in certain areas of the country, but they sound strange to people in another part of the US.
For example, in Ohio it is completely normal to say,
"My bed needs made."
On the east coast, I've been told that this sounds strange. They would only say "My bed needs to be made."
I looked up "make sure" in the Cambridge Dictionary and only got a result in American English, which includes an example with "make sure to..." (Link: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/make-sure)
I had to look up "make sure that" to get a result with British English as well.
Interesting.
