Which to use
“inquire” is a verb and “inquiry” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,646
- “inquire” frequency rank
- #4,681
- “inquiry” frequency rank
- 22327
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | inquire | inquiry |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To ask (about something). | The act of inquiring; a seeking of information by asking questions; interrogation; a question or questioning. |
Where the eye mixes inquire and inquiry
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. inquire and inquiry follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between inquire and inquiry
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: inquire is /ɪnˈkwaɪə/ while inquiry is /ɪnˈkwaɪəɹi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “inquire” becomes y in “inquiry”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22327, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
inquire is recorded at frequency rank #17,646, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈkwaɪə/. inquiry is at rank #4,681, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪnˈkwaɪəɹi/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 22327, this pair ranks #417,387 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of inquire vs inquiry
Shared letters: inqru. Private to "inquire": e. Private to "inquiry": y.
"inquire" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV · "inquiry" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "inquire" and "inquiry" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "inquire" or "inquiry"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "inquire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "inquiry" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #417,387 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "inquire" and "inquiry" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inequity vs inquiry". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #417,387 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.