Convince and Persuade have similar but distinct meanings.
Convince means “to cause someone to believe that something is true”:
Darwin’s work convinced many people that human beings evolved from apes.
The stem -vince comes from a Latin verb meaning, “to conquer.”
Persuade, in contrast, means, “to cause someone to do something through argument or evidence”:
Nothing you say will persuade me to go to a techno dance club.
Because the meanings of these verbs are so close, they can usually be exchanged, despite the distinction described above. Convince can more easily be used in place of persuade than the other way around:
Action: I persuaded/convinced my friend to travel with me.
Belief: They tried to convince/*persuade me that the Earth is flat.
Persuade sounds awkward in the second sentence, since the object is a belief rather than an action. So, although most English speakers don’t know the difference, you might choose to follow the distinction: convince someone of a belief, and persuade someone to do something.
More Examples of How to Use Convince" in a Sentence
- Rebecca finally convinced her father to let her go to that concert.
- Convince me that I can trust you with this project.
- Amy was not convinced by Ruban’s excuses, especially since this was the third time he’d been caught.
- Tom had his boss convinced that he could handle the project, but Tom soon found his boss disappointed with the results.
- The judge was convinced that the man was guilty of the crime, despite thin evidence and law enforcement’s mishandling of the case.
- Jeremy is usually a bad liar, so I was convinced he was telling the truth.
- It took a lot of convincing, but I finally got him to agree to go on a date with me.
- The data does not convince me that the problem is as severe as people claim.
- The professor tried to persuade his students to accept that his ideas were correct, but they weren't convinced.
- Nick was finally convinced that he needed to go to college.
- It's your job to convince your skeptical audience that your idea is a good one.
More Examples of How to Use "Persuade" in a Sentence
- Persuade your audience with facts, not feelings
- I can't be persuaded by you.
- I tried to persuade Thomas that he had done the right thing, but he was too stubborn to listen to me, so he went on feeling guilty.
- The lawyer was unable to persuade the judge to let his client out of jail.
- The old salesman was usually able to persuade people to buy things they had no intention of buying, but it seemed he had lost his touch.
- Our star athlete was persuaded by the coach to stay on the team, at least for the rest of the season.
- The media company was persuaded to change its policies after the scandal.
- It is hard to persuade people to change their minds on such polarizing issues.
- The advertising campaign was designed to persuade existing customers to upgrade to the latest model of the company’s core product.
- I tried to persuade Sall to go to the dance with me, but she refused.