Making Enquiries

Frequently asked questions

• When do I ask a direct question and when an indirect one?

  Both forms are correct English; they simply sound different. The direct question ("How much does it cost?") is short and factual and works well once you are already in conversation or you know each other. The indirect question ("Could you tell me how much it costs?") puts a polite frame around it and suits the opening of an enquiry, delicate topics, and people you are speaking to for the first time. A workable rule of thumb: make the first question of a call indirect, then feel free to get more direct — otherwise the conversation starts to sound laboured.

• Why is "Could you tell me how much does it cost?" wrong?

  Because the question form appears twice. The opener "Could you tell me" is already the question; what follows is an embedded clause and therefore keeps statement word order: "…how much it costs". The subject "it" is necessary; the only error here is the question form "does it cost". The test is easy: check the part after "how much". If it reads as a statement ("it costs"), the form is right. If it reads as a question ("does it cost"), you need to rearrange it.

• Does "Angebot" translate as "offer" in English?

  Not always — and in an enquiry usually not. When you want a price for a particular job or quantity, business English normally says "quote" or "quotation": "Could you send me a quote for fifty units?" The word "offer" tends to be used for a deal or a proposal ("a special offer", "that's a generous offer"). You will still be understood with "offer", but using "quote" makes it clear that you are asking for a price quotation for the work or quantity you need.

• Is it "enquiry" or "inquiry"?

  Both spellings exist, and both are understood everywhere. British English tends to use "enquiry" for a general question or request and "inquiry" for a formal investigation — though the two overlap, and the line is a tendency rather than a fixed rule. American English generally uses "inquiry" for both senses. In practice: pick one spelling and stay consistent within a single document — and if your organisation has a spelling convention, follow it.

• How does this lesson fit into my learning path?

  An enquiry always starts with the opening of a call, so *answering-the-phone* (A2) is worth doing first: it gives you the greeting, company and name formula. The grammar at the heart of this lesson is taken further in *indirect-questions-business* (B1), where you practise the embedded word order across many more patterns. Also useful is *taking-leaving-messages* (A2), because not every enquiry reaches the right person first time — and then you need the phrases for leaving a message.

• Why does the question form disappear after "Could you tell me…"?

  After "Could you tell me", what follows is no longer a question in its own right but an embedded part of the sentence — and in embedded questions English puts the subject before the verb or auxiliary: "Could you tell me when he will arrive?" The word order follows from the embedding, not from the politeness. You can see the same pattern with no politeness involved at all in "I know where he lives" or "She asked when the train leaves". Keep those two examples in mind and you have the rule for every indirect question.