“Is it necessary to check the customer’s ID when they’re just making a deposit?”

English Lesson: Is it necessary to check the customer’s ID when they’re just making a deposit?

You just got a job at a bank. You're being trained by your manager. She's explaining how to deposit customers' checks into their accounts. You have a question.

Is it necessary to check the customer’s ID when they’re just making a deposit?

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just (do something)

You use this phrase when the action you're describing seems easy, simple, fast, unimportant, or unexciting:

I just googled "new york florist" and that was the first shop that came up, so I called them.

A: What did you do this weekend?

B: I just sat at home and watched T.V.

Is it necessary to (do something)?

Ask whether you must do something using the phrase "Is it necessary to ___?"

Is it necessary to visit the consulate in person for the visa interview?

A more common way to ask this question would be:

Do you have to visit the consulate in person for the visa interview?

"Is it necessary...?" is a little more formal.

check (someone's) ID

A person's "ID" can mean their identification card. In the United States, a driver's license is the most commonly used ID because it shows a person's name along with a photo, and most people have one.

You might "check" someone's ID to make sure that they are the person they claim to be. Another common reason to check someone's ID is to look at their birth date to make sure that they're old enough to buy alcohol:

Yesterday I was buying a case of beer and the guy at the checkout asked to check my ID. I was like, "don't you see this gray hair?"

make a deposit

"Making a deposit" at a bank means putting money into an account. You can say this when you visit a bank:

I'd like to make a deposit, please.

You can also use "deposit" as a verb:

I'd like to deposit this into checking, please.