1a. She inquired his age.
1b. She inquired him about his age.
1c. She inquired of him his age.
1d. She inquired of him about his age.
2a. I’ll inquire my aunt when she is coming.
2b. I’ll inquire of my aunt when she is coming.
2c. I’ll inquire of my aunt about her visit/coming.
2d. I’ll inquire from my aunt when she is coming.
Please correct and comment.
Thanks.
1a. She inquired about his age. (She may have asked someone other than ‘him’)
1b. She inquired him about his age.
1c. She inquired of him his age. - a rather unusual way of phrasing this nowadays.
1d. She inquired of him about his age.
2a. I’ll inquire my aunt when she is coming.
2b. I’ll inquire of my aunt when she is coming.
2c. I’ll inquire of my aunt about her visit/coming.
2d. I’ll find out from my aunt when she is coming.
Beeesneees,
1a. I want to inquire of him about the price of Sony TV.
1b. I want to inquire about the price of Sony TV.
1c. I want to ask about the price of Sony TV.
2a. Many people inquired of you.
2b. Many people inquired after you.
2c. Many people inquired about you.
2d. Many people asked about/after/of you.
3a. He asked what time it was.
3b. He inquired what time it is.
3c. He inquired about what time it is.
Please correct and comment.
Thanks.
1a. I want to inquire of him about the price of a Sony TV.
- In modern standard English
I want to ask him about the price of a Sony TV.
1b. I want to inquire/enquire/ask about the price of a Sony TV.
1c. I want to ask about the price of a Sony TV.
2a. Many people inquired of you.
2b. Many people inquired after you.
2c. Many people inquired about you.
2d. Many people asked about/after/of you.
3a. He asked what time it was.
3b. He inquired what time it was.
3c. He inquired about what time it was.
Beeesneees,
I.
‘I’ll inquire of my aunt about her visit.’
In this sentence I used double prepositions - ‘of’ and ‘about’ with the verb ‘inquire’.
One of my friends told me that I cannot use like that.
Do you agree with her?
II.
- He asked/inquired of her what time it was.
- He asked/inquired about what time it was.
Are these two sentences OK?
Thanks.
Don’t we distinguish between ‘inquire’ and ‘enquire’? I don’t think it is always (at least) interchangeable. When we mean investigation, it is ‘inquiry’, not ‘enquiry’ which is commonly (and perhaps traditionally) ‘asking’. What do you say?
Most modern dictionaries don’t distinguish, which would indicate that their interchangeability is so complete as to be accepted.
Beeesneees,
Could you please answer my query at #5.
Thanks.
I This is one of the few sentences where you could possibly get away with using both, though it isn;e very natural and it changes the meaning. It indicates you will ask your aunt what her visit was like. It doesn’t mean you’re going to ask when she will be visiting.
II
He inquired of her what time it was.
He asked (her) what time it was.