The traditional distinction between the verbs enquire and inquire is that enquire is to be used for general senses of ‘a(chǎn)sk’, while inquire is reserved for uses meaning ‘make a formal investigation’.

Enquire和inquire這兩個(gè)動(dòng)詞傳統(tǒng)意義上的區(qū)別在于：Enquire的一般意義為“詢(xún)問(wèn)”，Inquire的含義為“做正式的調(diào)查”。

表示“詢(xún)問(wèn)”時(shí)：

In practice, however, enquire, and the associated noun enquiry, are more common in British English while inquire (and the noun inquiry) are more common in American English, but otherwise there is little discernible distinction in the way the words are used. Some style guides require that only inquire or only enquire be used.

實(shí)際上，enquire和它的名詞形式enquiry在英式英語(yǔ)中更常使用，而inquire和其名詞形式inquiry在美式英語(yǔ)中更為常見(jiàn)。這兩個(gè)單詞在使用方式上并無(wú)其他明顯的差別。在一些特殊場(chǎng)合中會(huì)要求只使用inquire或者enquire。

Could I enquire about your mother's health?

我可以詢(xún)問(wèn)下你母親的健康狀況么？

She inquired about the library's rare books collection.

她調(diào)查了圖書(shū)館稀有的藏書(shū)。

Every enquiry is very welcome.

歡迎每條咨詢(xún)。

Adam helped the police with their inquiries.

亞當(dāng)協(xié)助警方進(jìn)行調(diào)查。

Both words derive from the Old French enquerre, from a variant of the Latin inquirere, based on quaerere 'seek'. The same root word can be seen in various modern English words, including acquire, require, conquer, quest, request, inquest, and question.

這兩個(gè)單詞均源自法語(yǔ)詞匯enquerre,來(lái)源于一個(gè)拉丁詞匯inquirere的變種，基于詞匯quaerere（尋求）?，F(xiàn)代英語(yǔ)詞匯的很多單詞均來(lái)源于這個(gè)詞匯，包括acquire（獲得），require（需要），conquer（征服），quest（追求），request（要求），inquest（審訊），和question（問(wèn)題）。

?

小測(cè)驗(yàn)：選擇最佳選項(xiàng)

1. Do you mind me to ____ about your salary?

inquire?? enquire

2. The police are ____ into the accident.

inquire?? enquire

?

?

答案：1. inquire/enquire?? 2. inquire

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