“Sure, I'll add him to the distribution list.”

English Lesson: Sure, I'll add him to the distribution list.

You're having a phone conference with several people at work. One of the managers says that one of her employees hasn't been getting any e-mails about a certain project. She asks you to make sure that he gets these e-mails. You say this in reply.

Sure, I'll add him to the distribution list.

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Sure

"Sure" means "yes".

A: Hey, can you help me with this?

B: Sure.

 But "sure" is more casual than "yes".

If you just answer "yes" to a question, it can sound as if you are angry:

A: Hey, can you help me with this?

B: Yes.

A: Uh... Are you annoyed or something?

"Sure" is similar to "of course". Both suggest that it's obvious and expected for the answer to be "yes".

A: Will you come to my graduation?

B: Of course!

"Of course" is a stronger response and more positive response than "sure".

I'll (do something)

You use "will" when you're announcing a decision that you just made. In this example, you heard someone say that someone wasn't getting the e-mails. So you decided to add him to the list. If you were already planning to do this, you would say:

Yes, I was going to add him to the distribution list.

add (something) to (a list)

Each point on a list is called "an item". When you make a new item for a list, you are "adding" that item to the list.

A: Am I on the list?

B: No, but I'll add you.

a distribution list

A "distribution list" is a list of everyone who is supposed to receive something. In e-mail, it's a convenient list of addresses for people who are supposed to get emails about a certain subject. For example, you might have a distribution list for all of the members of a department at work. Or you could create a distribution list for all of the people who are supposed to get a weekly report that you write.