Monthly Archives: January 2012

The Difference between Inquire and Enquire

While surfing the Web yesterday, I stumbled upon a question asked by one curious person. The question was about the difference between two very similar words: inquire and enquire. The author of the question seemed to be very eager to learn the distinguishing characteristics of the two terms. It turns out, however, that the two words mean the exact same thing and can be used interchangeably. There are some things, however, one needs to bear in mind while using the words either in the written or the oral form.
First of all, inquire seems to be the more popular form of the word, so if you want to play it safe, you will stick with this version of the word.

Secondly, enquire seems to be more popular in the British English while inquire seems to be more common in the US. This fact didn’t prevent the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary from recognizing inquire as the more dominant form while deeming enquire at the same time.

The bottom line is the following: use inquire unless somebody specifically asks you to use the other version of the word. End of story.

Want or Need

Every time I shop for something, I always ask myself the following question: is it really something I need or is it rather something I want. There is a difference between need and want. If I really need to buy something, I usually make sure to get that item. If I realize that I want something but do not really need it, I try to postpone the purchase. I prefer to give priority to my needs over wants. That way I have more control over my spending. My wants should never become more important to me than my wants.

Exercise and Me

I have not had that much time to exercise lately. I have been busy with many things that prevented me from having as much exercising as I used to have in the past. Do you believe that exercising is so important? I certainly believe so. Every time I choose to work out, I feel better about myself. I feel more confident and I like the way my body feels like. If you do not exercise yet, I would like to recommend that you start slowly. Do not start exercising suddenly for a few hours in a row because your muscles are going to hurt you the next day. Start slowly and gradually increase the time you spend exercising.