What does each word mean? Historically, the distinction between the verbs enquire and inquire is that enquire is used to mean ‘ask’ in the wider sense, while inquire is reserved for formal investigations. In modern usage, however, enquire (and the noun enquiry) are more commonly found in British English and inquire (and the noun inquiry) are more commonly found in in American English. Click here to see the Spellzone dictionary definition of enquire and here for the vocabulary lists related to the word. Click here to see the Spellzone dictionary definition of inquire and here for the vocabulary lists related to the word. Here are both words used in some exa...
One common cause of confusion in the English language are the words, enquiry and inquiry and their brothers enquire and inquire. So, when is it enquire and when is it inquire? Traditionally, ‘enquire’ is a formalized synonym for the word ‘ask’, whereas ‘inquiry’ is typically used as a substitute for ‘investigation’. It might be useful to remember in-quiry means in-vestigation. In everyday usage, there is little distinction between the two and you can usually get away with using them interchangeably. Inquiry is something of an Americanism, and in Britain we tend to lean towards the word enquiry, it seems that neither are strictly inc...
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"I ran the trial with a small group of students over three weeks before the summer holidays," she says. "I quickly saw the benefits, and signed up."
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