Enquiry vs Inquiry in pronunciation (2024)

A) Enquiry
B) Inquiry
Should they be pronounced as "in / quiry" or "an / quiry"?
According to the dictionaries both words should have the same pronunciation. However I hear different pronunciations from different people.

My questions:
1. As a native speaker, how would you pronounce these two words?
2. Is it acceptable to pronounce them as the other way round?

Thank you.

Inquiry and enquiry are the same word. They are pronounced more or less how they are spelled.

Inquiry - mainly AE - (enquiry is rare.)
Enquiry - mainly BE In broad terms, a question seeking further knowledge; inquiry - an official investigation.

PaulQ said:

Inquiry and enquiry are the same word. They are pronounced more or less how they are spelled.

Inquiry - mainly AE - (enquiry is rare.)
Enquiry - mainly BE In broad terms, a question seeking further knowledge; inquiry - an official investigation.

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Thanks for your reply.

Do you mean it will be pronounced as "in" when it is written as inquiry, "an" when written as enquiry?

How do you pronounce both words personally?

UnflinchingWarrior said:

According to the dictionaries both words should have the same pronunciation.

See Also

‘Enquiry' vs 'Inquiry': What's the Difference?Effective Inquiry Email Writing: Get the Information You Need! | eJOY BlogIs It Correct "To Inquire About Something"? (Grammar Explained)I want to ask someone that is going to read a text to pronounce all the words of the text correctly. How can I say that? 1. "Please pay attention to your pronunciation". 2. "Be careful as far as your pronunciation is concerned". 3. Something else?!?!? My

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You need better dictionaries. Please tell us exactly what "dictionaries" said this.

I use the WordReference dictionary (searchbox at top center of this page). It says the words have different pronunciations in the AE part.

Note: the BE part gives the same pronunciation ("in-") for both spelling.

JulianStuart said:

Welcom!
I speak British English and they are the same: inquiry, enquiry /ɪnˈkwaɪərɪ/. in-KWAI-ree
American English speakers often put the stress on the first syllable but the first letter is pronounced as an i, not an a (I've never heard it start with an a!)

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Thanks for your reply.

Well, I happened to watch a video which a teacher showed how she pronounced the word "enquiry". I heard many times. She pronounced the word starting with "an", not "in". The title of the video suggests she speaks British English.
This makes me wonder whether the pronunciation might change depending on how you write the word.

<-----Off-topic comment removed by moderator (Florentia52)----->

dojibear said:

You need better dictionaries. Please tell us exactly what "dictionaries" said this.

I use the WordReference dictionary (searchbox at top center of this page). It says the words have different pronunciations in the AE part.

Note: the BE part gives the same pronunciation ("in-") for both spelling.

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Cambridge and Collins Dictionary.
Oxford Dictionary suggests they have the same pronunciation too, but American English has an alternative pronunciation which the stress is on the first syllable.

UnflinchingWarrior said:

...She pronounced the word starting with "an", not "in". ...

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If that is true (and you may have misheard it) she has a very strange accent. It is normally

pronounced as "an".

I have the feeling that part of the issue here may be the syllable on which the word is stressed.

In BrE both enquiry and inquiry are stressed on the second syllable. Am I right that they're stressed on the first syllable in AmE?

Loob said:

I have the feeling that part of the issue here may be the syllable on which the word is stressed.

In BrE both enquiry and inquiry are stressed on the second syllable. Am I right that they're stressed on the first syllable in AmE?

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Yes.

Keith Bradford said:

If that is true (and you may have misheard it) she has a very strange accent. It is normally

never

pronounced as "an".

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I heard many times. The video teaches learners how to pronounce that word.

How would you pronounce the word "enquiry" and "inquiry"?
Thank you.

Cenzontle said:

When the second syllable is stressed, it's [kwaɪ].
When the first syllable is stressed, the second syllable is [kwɪ] or [kwə].
When the first syllable is unstressed, I would not hear any difference between "en-" and "in-".

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The word, no matter how it is spelled, is pronounced as "in-" in all of the cases?
How could you pronounce the word "enquiry" and "inquiry" peronsally?
Thank you.

kentix said:

Yes, you are right. I pronounce both with stress on the first syllable. And I pronounce them with different starting vowels. But I'm not sure there's any practical difference in the way many people use and understand them in the U.S. (including me).

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How would you pronounce them?
Do you mean you pronounce it as "in-" when written as inquiry, "an-" when written as enquiry?
Thank you.

UnflinchingWarrior said:

How would you pronounce them?
Do you mean you pronounce it as "in-" when written as inquiry, "an-" when written as enquiry?
Thank you.

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NO
Nobody here has heard of or uses "an" for the pronuncuation of either word.
(See post #8 above)

UnflinchingWarrior said:

How would you pronounce them?

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inquiry -> in... (the same 'i' as in 'in')
enquiry -> en... (the same 'e' as in egg.)

In some parts of the United States, e.g. Texas and the Willamette Valley of Oregon, the pronunciation of "in" and "en" are swapped, thus confusing things.

Thus, you might hear "jet injun" on an airplane, an "ink pin," to write with, etc.

It's a mess for those of us not part of that group.