2021-05-09
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด – A – ask & inquire & enquire
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Dictionary.co
ออกเสียง ask = ‘ASK’ or ‘AHSK’
ออกเสียง inquire = ‘in-KWAHYUHR’
ออกเสียง enquire = ‘en-KWAHYUHR’
Dictionary.com
VOCAB BUILDER
What is a basic definition of ask?
Ask is a verb that means
to present a question to someone,
to requestsomething, or
to invitesomeone.
Ask has several other senses as a verb and a noun.
If you are asking someone something,
you usually want answers from them.
When asking about something,
you might pose several questions or
politely request information about something.
- Real-life examples:
Students ask teachers questions about things that confuse them.
If you forget your watch, you might ask someone what time it is.
You might needto ask a store employee where the bathroom is.
- Used in a sentence:
We asked the teacher which chapters would be on the test.
Ask can also mean to make a request for something.
In this sense, it is often used in the phase “to ask for.”
- Real-life examples:
Children ask Santa Claus for presents at Christmas.
Your mom asks you to clean your room.
When you lovesomeone, you might ask them to marry you.
- Used in a sentence:
I asked Bill if I could borrow his shovel.
Ask also means to invite someone to do something or gosomewhere.
- Real-life examples:
You can ask your friends over for a party.
Your grandparents might ask you to come and visit.
- Used in a sentence:
Jin asked Maria out for a date on Saturday.
Where does ask come from?
The first recordsof ask come from before the 900s.
It ultimately comes from the Old English verb āscian or āxian.
It is related to older words,
such as the Old Frisian āskia and the Sanskrit icchati (“to seek”).
Dictionary.com
SYNONYMSTUDY FOR INQUIRE
Inquire, ask, question
implythat a person addresses another to obtain information.
Ask is the general word: to ask what time it is.
Inquire is more formal and implies asking about something specific:
to inquire about a rumor.
To question implies repetition and persistence in asking;
it often applies to legal examinationor investigation:
to question the survivor of an accident.
Sometimes it implies doubt:
to question a figure, an account.
Dictionary.com
INQUIRE VS. ENQUIRE
What's the difference between inquire and enquire?
Inquire and enquire meanthe same thing: to ask, to seek information,
or to investigate.
Enquire is a less common variant of inquire.
Their noun forms—inquiry and enquiry—alsohave the same meanings:
a question, an investigation, a request for information,
or the process of seeking information.
Both inquire and enquire are somewhat formal.
Some speakers of BritishEnglish may use both words,
preferring inquire in contexts that are more formal.
In the U.S., enquire is rarely used.
Here’s an exampleof inquire used correctly in a sentence.
Example:
I’m calling to inquireabout the open position.
Enquire could be used in this sentence in the same exact way.
Dictionary.com
Inquire vs. Enquire
And just what, may we ask, is the difference between these?
While inquire means “to seek information in a formal way,”
enquire means “to ask in a general way.”
They can be used interchangeably.
Inquire and enquire both originate from the same Latin word,
meaning to seek.
Bothwords mean to request information or examine facts.
Ask
As verbs, both words mean to ask for information.
An example is
“I should enquire how long this bus ride will take.”
In this situation,
the speaker wants to ask for information on the length of the bus ride.
As nouns, these words become inquiry and enquiry,
and mean the act of asking for information.
Generally, both inquire and enquire are pretty formal words
compared to other words meaning to ask.
In conversation, most people just use ask.
However, there’s sometimes a slight difference
in how these words are used formally and informally.
In writing, whatever form is used
typically remains consistent throughout the page, book, or publication.
American vs. British English
Inquire is more formal, and is used for situations of specificinvestigation.
It’s more commonlyused in American English.
Inquire or enquire are also
more often interchangeable in American English.
Style guides in the United States typically favor it.
Enquire is more informal,
and is used for asking questions in a general sense.
It’s more commonly used in British English.
Enquire is also more often used
to show a differencefrom inquire in British English.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Choosethe Right Synonym for ask
Verb
ASK, QUESTION, INTERROGATE, QUERY, INQUIRE
mean to address a person in order to gain information.
ASK implies no more than the putting of a question.
ask for directions
QUESTION usually suggests the asking of series of questions.
questioned them about every detail of the trip
INTERROGATE suggests formal or official systematic questioning.
the prosecutor interrogated the witness all day
QUERY implies a desire for authoritative information or confirmation.
queried a librarian about the book
INQUIRE implies a searching for facts or for truth often specificallyby asking questions.
began to inquire of friends and teachers what career she should pursue
meanto seek to obtain by making one's wants known.
ASK implies no more than the statement of the desire.
ask a favor of a friend
REQUEST implies greater formality and courtesy.
requests the pleasure of your company
SOLICIT suggests a calling attention to one's wants
or desires by public announcement or advertisement.
a letter soliciting information
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Words We're Watching
What's a 'Good Get'?
How to use 'get' as a noun
Get and ask, two venerable verbs,
are getting more frequent use as nouns lately.
It might surprise you that,
though both nouns sound like recent jargon to most people
(“a good get,” “what’s the ask?”),
get and ask have been nouns
for as long as they have beenverbs in English;
the nounsare just much less common today.
And though
ask is most often used in business and fundraising contexts,
get seems to be used most often in writing
about sports, entertainment, and politics.
As a noun, 'get' is most often used in writing
about sports, entertainment, and politics,
where it describes "someone or something gotten or obtained"
and "the act of getting or obtaining someone or something."
In its oldest uses,
get as a noun could mean “earnings” or “booty,”
referring to something that is gained, or “offspring.”
It alsomeans “the return of a difficult shot in a game” in racquet sports,
and has done so since the early 20th century.
But more recently,
get has been used to mean both
“someone or something gottenor obtained”
and “the act of getting or obtaining someone or something.”
As with ask,
get is usually paired with a modifier
such as good, big, great, or huge.
Ask is used in phrases like “a big ask” or “a tough ask,”
meaning that what is being asked for or hoped for is difficult or unlikely.
This use of get seems to
have started with the concrete meaning of “acquisition”:
Full Five-Year Warranty on camera and ULTRALIFE Energy Source.
It’s a great gift, and a great “get,” too.
—The Orlando Sentinel, 24 November 1983
It then evolved to mean “the acquisition of a player for a sports team,”
a use that has proliferated over time:
He’s a good player.
He’ll be a good get for somebody late in the first round.
—Philadelphia Daily News, 25 April 1985
"He [Zach Miller] has flashed," coach John Fox said.
"He was a guy we heard had a great camp and some of the things we were able to research, he was a good get for us in the offseason.
We just need him to stay healthy."
—Brad Biggs, 5 June 2015
Adding Kyle Okposo was a huge get for GM Tim Murray
and we're going to find out whether Robin Lehner can be the guy in net.
—Scott Burnside, ESPN.com, 12 October 2016
This meaning jumped from sports to the hiring of people in other fields:
He talks about food with a style and a passion which exudes experience and knowledge. For Mietta O’Donnell and Mietta’s he is a good “get.”
—The Sunday Age (Melbourne, Australia), 23 December 1990
But Cumberbatch is a very good get, too.
Since breaking out internationally with the BBC drama Sherlock,
he’s quickly become one of the most in-demand actors working today.
—Angie Han, slashfilm.com, 4 September 2013
Amy Adams was a big get because she's basically
this generation's Meryl Streep.
—Brian Lloyd, entertainment.ie, 5 November 2016
Most recently, it has come to mean “the acquisition of an endorsement”
or “the act of securing an engagement for an appearance
(as for a speech or interview)”:
I had reconnected with the lust of my life while landing a big get for the magazine.
—Karen Yampolsky, Falling Out of Fashion, 2007
Clinton was a good get, but if Goldman Sachs
could have booked Beyonce for $225,000, maybe it would have.
—Editorial, The Chicago Tribune, 28 April 2016
[Adam] Laxalt is an anti-establishment star in the state, the “only one,”
in statewide office, said Chuck Muth, a conservative blogger.
“Laxalt has developed a very good reputation,
as far as among those who vote in caucuses,
so this is a good get for Cruz,” he said.
—Elena Schneider and Eliza Collins, Politico, 13 January 2016
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Roberson;
the Chamber frequently spends huge sums on their favored candidates,
so this is a very good get for him.
—Daily Kos Elections, 29 April 2016
We’ll soon have the dictionary’s
take on both “the ask” and “the get” as we watch for more nouned verbs.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Ask
Ask [noun]:
Something asked for or required;
especially: the asking priceor initially desired offer
If you'd rather avoid it: Request or demand
It may come as a surprise that
ask has been a noun as long as it’s been one of the most basic
and common verbsin English.
It originally meant “the act of asking” or “a demand or request,”
a meaning that is still used today:
"Congress is being so aggressive because the ask is so concrete,
there is something that Egypt can do about this,"
said one staffer for a Congressman who has been particularly vocal on the issue."
—“Egypt vs. Israel: How Congress Weighs the Risks of Cutting Our Aid to Cairo,” Zvika Krieger, The Atlantic, 16 February 2012
This meaning has spread to the field of fundraising,
and there are even books with titles like The Art of the ‘Ask’
and 50 Asks in 50 Weeks:
A Guide to Better Fundraising for Your Small Development Shop.
More recently, ask has become a common term in the field of real estate
as a way to refer to asking price (as in “the ask is $1.1 million”),
but it can refer to price when bidding is involved in other contexts too:
But the demands of James and her literary agent, Valerie Hoskins,
have caused more than one bidder to use the safe word.
Sources say the ask is very far-reaching and nearly unprecedented,
though one notes that it wouldn’t be completely unheard-of
for a book that had actually been published.
—“E.L. James Making Unprecedented Demands for Film Rights
to 'Fifty Shades of Grey,'” Kim Masters, Jay A. Fernandez,
The Hollywood Reporter, 23 March 2012
In British and Australian English,
ask is used as a noun to mean “something asked for, requested,
or required of someone.”
It's usually used in phrases like “a big ask” or “a tough ask,” as in:
To win here, though, Fowler will have to emulate the feat of Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 who became the last player to win the Masters at the first attempt.
It's a tough ask, for sure.
—Philip Reid, Irish Times, 7 April 2011
The word’s long history notwithstanding,
ask still sounds either very informal or very specialized to most ears.
Collins COBUILD English Usage
ask
1. 'ask'
You say that someone asks a question.
The police officer asked me a lot of questions.
Be Careful!
Don't say that someone 'says a question'.
2. reporting questions
When you reporta yes/no-question,
you usually use ask with an if-clause.
She asked him if he spoke French.
Someone asked me if the work was going well.
You can also use a clause beginning with 'whether'.
I asked Brian whether he agreed.
When you report a wh-question,
you usually use ask with a wh-clause.
I asked him what he wanted.
He asked me where I was going.
Be Careful!
In the wh-clause,
the subject and the verb do not change places.
Don'tsay, for example, 'He asked me when was the train leaving'.
You say 'He asked me when the train was leaving'.
You can say that someone asks someone else their name or their age.
He asked me my name.
You can say that someone asks someone else's opinion.
I was asked my opinion about the new car.
You don't need to say who a question is addressed to
if this is clear from the context.
A young man asked if we were students.
I asked whether they liked the film.
Be Careful!
Don't use 'to' when mentioning who a question is addressed to.
Don'tsay, for example, 'He asked to me my name'.
3. direct reporting
You can use ask whenreporting directly what someone says.
'How many languages can you speak?' he asked.
'Have you met him?' I asked.
4. reporting requests
When someone says that they want to be given something,
you report thisusing ask and for.
For example,
if a man says to a waiter 'Can I have a glass of water?',
you report this as 'He asked for a glass of water'
or'He asked the waiter for a glass of water'.
We asked for the bill.
When someone says that
they want to speak to another person on the telephone,
you say thatthey ask for that person.
He rang the office and asked for Cynthia.
When someone tells another person
that they want them to do something,
you report thisusing ask and either a to-infinitive clauseor an if-clause.
He asked her to marry him.
I asked him if he could help.
Collins COBUILD English Usage
inquire – enquire – ask
1. 'inquire'and 'enquire'
If you inquire or enquire about something,
you ask forinformation about it.
There is no differencein meaning between these words.
Inquire is more common, especially in American English.
We inquired about the precise circumstances surrounding the arrest.
I enquired about the scenery and Beaumont told me it was being built in a carpenter's shop in Waterloo.
You can use inquire or enquire with a 'wh'-clause.
She inquired how Ibrahim was getting on.
I enquired what kind of aircraft he had commanded before returning home.
In writing,
inquire and enquire are sometimes used in quote structures.
'Anything you need?' inquired the girl.
'Who compiles these reports?' Philip enquired.
Be Careful!
You do not use these verbs with a direct object.
You do not say, for example, 'He inquired her if she was well'.
2. 'ask'
Inquire and enquire are fairly formal words.
In conversation,
people usually use ask.
Ask can be used with or without a direct object.
She asked about his work.
I asked him what he wanted.
Dictionary of Problem Words in English
ask a question
The verb ask means “to inquire about,” “to put a question to.”
In nearly every conceivable situation and meaning,
a question should be omitted from ask a question;
ask implies a question and should stand alone.
“A member of the audience asked (not ask a question) about inflation.”
