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Teacher told this is wrong? What is the mistake?

Hi all,

A teacher commented on this sentence I've made.
I wonder what I did wrong here:

It’s not sure it’ll rain today

Can anyone explain me what mistake I've made in a simple way?
Thanks in advanced!

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Reply 1

vincent84

Ps: this is what the teacher commented:
Please consider the use of ‘sure’ in your answer.

Reply 2

linkdapink

Well, the sentence just doesnt make sense? What's "it's"? The sentence comes out as "It is not sure it will rain today" which I dont get at all. Is there more context that needs to be added that I'm missing out on?

Reply 3

MJlover

Surely it should be : I'm not sure if it'll rain today...

How can an 'it' be sure of anything (it's not human, no train of thought?)

Reply 4

MJlover

Or maybe 'I'm not certain if it will rain today'

Reply 5

Dayxn2

You could change 'sure' to 'certain' and it would be correct, or 'it's' to 'I'm'.

Reply 6

vincent84

MJLover, I guess you're right. Thanks a lot, it makes a lot of sense!
It's not always easy not being a native speaker :wink:

Reply 7

LawBore

It's a (technically incorrect) colloquialism. If 'it is' not sure if it will rain, what is 'it'?

Reply 8

vincent84

ALright everyone . Thanks a lot for helping me out!

Reply 9

obscurename

I would say you need to add "if" between "sure" and "it'll" possibly.

Reply 10

heidigirl

It's your use of 'it's' and 'not sure' together.

You could say 'it's not known if it'll rain today' and it would make sense because it's pretty obvious that 'it is' is being used in a general non specific way, but saying 'it's not sure' implies that the 'it's' is an actual specific thing.

Reply 11

Skadoosh

Could be a robot that they're talking about.

Reply 12

vincent84

lol @ skadoosh :smile:

. Thanks all!

Reply 13

vincent84

How about this one :

Borrow me your pen, will you?

This is the comment:
Consider the difference in meaning and use of ‘borrow’ and ‘lend’ in your answer.

Reply 14

francescafrancesca

and "i'm unsure" is better than "i'm not sure"

Reply 15

CherryCherryBoomBoom

Can I borrow your pen?

or

Lend me your pen, will you?

Reply 16

21:13

Where are you from op? :smile:

Reply 17

Anonymous0155

It's not certain it'll rain today.

Reply 18

Claphamski

I'd say that you need a that in it, i.e. It's not sure that it'll rain today.

i dont see a problem with the It so long as the context of the weather is made clear.

Reply 19

james.h

If you borrow something, you are the one accepting something (the pen, in this case) from another person.

If you lend something, you are the one giving something (the pen) to someone else.

Now consider that sentence "Borrow me your pen, will you?". 'Borrow' is an action which applies to the person receiving the pen, but you have phrased it so it sounds as if you're asking the person to borrow the pen - which belongs to them - and that obviously isn't what you mean. :nah: