新东方网>英语>英语学习>语法词汇>词汇指导>正文

零基础学英语:enquire & inquire词汇辨析

2016-07-05 13:49

来源:牛津词典

作者:

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

  Enquire和inquire这两个动词传统意义上的区别在于:Enquire的一般意义为“询问”,Inquire的含义为“做正式的调查”。

  表示“询问”时:

  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.

  实际上,enquire和它的名词形式enquiry在英式英语中更常使用,而inquire和其名词形式inquiry在美式英语中更为常见。这两个单词在使用方式上并无其他明显的差别。在一些特殊场合中会要求只使用inquire或者enquire。

  Could I enquire about your mother's health?

  我可以询问下你母亲的健康状况么?

  She inquired about the library's rare books collection.

  她调查了图书馆稀有的藏书。

  Every enquiry is very welcome.

  欢迎每条咨询。

  Adam helped the police with their inquiries.

  亚当协助警方进行调查。

  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.

  这两个单词均源自法语词汇enquerre,来源于一个拉丁词汇inquirere的变种,基于词汇quaerere(寻求)。现代英语词汇的很多单词均来源于这个词汇,包括acquire(获得),require(需要),conquer(征服),quest(追求),request(要求),inquest(审讯),和question(问题)。

  小测验:选择最佳选项

  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

(编辑:何莹莹)

版权及免责声明

凡本网注明"稿件来源:新东方"的所有文字、图片和音视频稿件,版权均属新东方教育科技集团(含本网和新东方网) 所有,任何媒体、网站或个人未经本网协议授权不得转载、链接、转贴或以其他任何方式复制、发表。已经本网协议授权的媒体、网站,在下载使用时必须注明"稿件来源:新东方",违者本网将依法追究法律责任。

本网未注明"稿件来源:新东方"的文/图等稿件均为转载稿,本网转载仅基于传递更多信息之目的,并不意味着赞同转载稿的观点或证实其内容的真实性。如其他媒体、网站或个人从本网下载使用,必须保留本网注明的"稿件来源",并自负版权等法律责任。如擅自篡改为"稿件来源:新东方",本网将依法追究法律责任。

如本网转载稿涉及版权等问题,请作者见稿后在两周内速来电与新东方网联系,电话:010-60908555。

热搜关键词