Ask WordMum: Enquiry vs Inquiry
This month, we’re investigating how to properly refer to an investigation. Or asking how to talk about a casual question. Possibly both! WordMum is here to untangle things and provide some answers.
Our Question
What’s the difference between an enquiry and an inquiry?
WordMum Says
These words are similar in meaning and sound, though pronunciations vary. They’re easy to mix up! Both refer to asking a question or trying to find information.
Their usage varies by region, too. In US English, technically they can be used interchangeably but enquiry is rare; use inquiry.
In Australian and British English, they have slightly different meanings, so should be more aware of which to use in a specific context. Let’s break it down for our Aus and UK English users!
Inquire (verb) Inquiry (noun)
This word refers to formal or official requests for information. For any legal or official matters or investigations, you would have an inquiry.
For example, Royal Commissions are also known as royal inquiries. You may be familiar with inquests being official coronal investigations into deaths; similarly, a coroner may hold an inquiry into the cause of a fire or explosion.
When used as a verb (to inquire about something), it can be used more generally to mean ask or investigate, regardless of context, formality, or officialness.
Enquire (verb) Enquiry (noun)
The E version of the word is informal and covers all other types of questions or attempts to seek knowledge.
An enquiry might be a question between people, a customer service request, or any other simple or casual query.
When used as a verb, enquire means to ask. While inquire can be used in any context, enquire doesn’t tend to apply to formal or official matters. For unofficial, informal, or casual queries, you can use either word.
How to remember which is which
For me, it helps to remember that the ‘I’ spelling is more formal and stick to that usage. Linking it to inquest as a similarly official investigation, or even simply to investigation gives me the first letter. If it’s not official, use the other spelling!
Example Time!
Let’s see how these operate in context.
He called the helpline to enquire about his balance
This person is asking a question about his account. It’s not an official investigation or a formal question; a question posed over the phone is more ad hoc and informal. So, we want the less formal version of the word with the E spelling.
The ‘I’ spelling works here too, because the verb inquire can be applied to informal questions. So this one could go either way!
The inquiry into the company’s finances was not going well
This kind of investigation sounds official, as company finances tend to be serious business with dire consequences. This means we want the ‘I’ version of the word.
If the intention with this statement is that someone made a casual enquiry about a company’s finances, that might not go well because a company won’t divulge that kind of information to just anyone. It would take an official inquiry to get any actual answers.
The school inquired about building a new set of classrooms
This one could be a formal or informal query into the possibility of new classrooms. We would need more context to be sure! Is the school making an official application for permission? Are they asking what’s required to get permission, which would be an informal question? Are they asking for quotes?
Luckily, we don’t need to know for the sentence, because inquired works either way. If we used enquired instead, we would know the school wasn’t in the formal part of the process yet.
Their enquiry about the status of their meals yielded a fresh plate of bread rolls
This time we have an informal, ad hoc question, so we want to use the noun for the informal situations. And bonus: free bread rolls!
An inquiry about the status of their meals would mean an official or legal investigation was happening, and that’s unlikely to yield free bread. In most cases, anyway.
She enquired about the status of the inquiry
In this case, we have a person asking informally about how a formal investigation is going. This is pretty clear from the spellings used.
We could use inquired instead, but that would be less precise. Is the person launching a second official inquiry into the first one? Or is she asking a casual question? The inquire verb doesn’t specify so we can’t know from this sentence alone. Context is key!
Did that answer your questions? Can we put the investigation into these words to rest? Got a different strategy for tackling these things you want to share? WordMum would love to hear from you.
If you want to catch up on existing posts, check out dedicated page that lists them all for you, in alphabetical order. If this post, or any others, reminded you of similar tricky words you’d like help with, let WordMum know.
See you next month for more wordy wisdom!