enquiry
part of speech
noun (an enquiry, enquiries); also spelled inquiry
meaning for a pupil
1) A question you ask to find something out, often to a shop, office or school. tree →
2) (formal) An official look into something that went wrong, to find out the facts. tree →
3) The act of asking or looking into things in general. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life you make an enquiry at a desk, by phone or by email: «make an enquiry», «enquiries desk», «enquiry form». In news and formal writing «a public enquiry» or «an enquiry into the accident» is an official investigation. In science, «enquiry» or «inquiry» means finding things out by asking questions and testing.
examples
- Mum made an enquiry about swimming lessons at the leisure centre. tree →
- Please send all enquiries to the school office. tree →
- The hotel thanked us for our enquiry. tree →
- There will be an enquiry into why the bridge fell down. tree →
- The police are making enquiries about the stolen bike. tree →
- Our science topic is based on enquiry: we ask a question and test it. tree →
- I have a quick enquiry about the homework. tree →
- The enquiries desk is next to the main door. tree →
note
Countable: an enquiry, two enquiries (y becomes ies). In the UK «enquiry» is common for everyday questions and «inquiry» for official investigations; in the USA «inquiry» is used for both. Verb: enquire / inquire. Pronounced en-KWIRE-ree (UK) or IN-kwuh-ree (US).
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «enquiry» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.