ASK Basic Verbs Learn English Grammar

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Hi everybody,
welcome back to Know Your Verbs.

My name is Alisha.

In this episode, we’re going to talk
about the verb, “ask.”

So, let’s get started.

The basic definition of the verb, “ask”
is to make a request.

Here are the conjugations,
present tense, “ask, asks.”

Past tense, “asked,”
past participle, “asked,”

continuous or progressive, “asking.”

Let’s talk about
some additional meanings of this verb.

First is “to require.”
Here are some examples.

“You’re asking too much of us.”

“They asked a lot of him this year.”

So, in these example sentences,
the verb, “asked” means

to require or to require something
from someone else.

In the first sentence,
“You’re asking too much of us,”

means you are requiring too much of us

or you’re requiring too much
of something we are able to do.

“Asking too much”
shortens this expression.

So, it’s not only require
but like, requiring the capabilities

or requiring something a person
or a machine or an object is able to do.

So, “require,” yes,
but also “require," plus, “capabilities.”

In the second sentence,
we see this as well.

So, the second sentence was
“They asked a lot of him this year.”

They required a lot of him.

We can’t quite replace “require”
for “asked” here

but the nuance here of “ask” is
they required a lot of his capabilities

or they required a lot of work
from him this year.

So, “asked” instead,
condenses all of that.

Requiring him, requiring his work
or his service, or something.

So, we condense all of that
into one word, “asked” here.

The next meaning is
“to set as a price.”

Here are some examples,

“The seller is asking $10,000
for the boat.”

“She asked for $100
for her old laptop.”

Alright, in both of these
examples sentences,

“asked” shows the price of an item,
the price a seller chooses for an item

or the price the seller
hopes to receive for an item.

It’s the price that the seller
has set for something.

In the first example,
we see “asking” in the progressive

or the continuous tense.

“The seller is asking $10,000,”

meaning the seller currently
hopes to receive $10,000 for the boat.

So, if it’s helpful,
you can imagine the seller

asking the buyer for this amount.

The seller requesting this amount
from the buyer for this amount.

So, the seller is asking for $10,000
for the boat

but we removed the preposition “for,”
“asking 10,000 dollars for the boat,”

is essentially requesting the seller
for $10,000.

So, “requesting the seller for,”
is a long way of saying this expression.

We can shorten this to “asking.”

“The buyer is asking $10,000 for.”

In the second example sentence,
we see,

“She asked for $100
for her old laptop.”

So, in this example sentence,
we do see the preposition “for.”

“She asked for $100
for her old laptop.”

We can include the preposition “for”
but it is okay to drop it in these cases

where it is clear that the meaning
is a price for an item.

So, “she asked” is past tense.

So, a past tense situation,

“She wanted to receive $100
for her old laptop.”

Meaning, she asked for or she requested
the buyer pay $100 for her old laptop.

So, “requested the buyer pay”
is shortened to “asked for” in this case,

so, we can use it with
or without the “for” preposition.

The next meaning is
to call on for an answer.

Here are some examples,

“He asked his boss
about the upcoming changes.”

“She asks her neighbors
for help every year.”

So, “to ask,” in these cases,

it’s not quite a request in this case
but rather we’re looking for information.

We’re looking for an answer.

We have a question about something
or we need some information

and so, we inquire for information.

I suppose you can think of it like making
an information request in that way

but we’re looking for some kind of answer.

We go to someone to get information,
to get an answer about a question.

In the first example,

“He asked his boss
about the upcoming changes.”

The information he wants
is about these changes,

maybe at his company.

So, “he asks” means
he’s looking for an answer.

He asked his boss for information.

He’s looking for an answer
about something.

In the second sentence,

“She asks her neighbors
for help every year,”

means she’s looking for answers.

Some things she needs an answer to.

She’s looking for help.

She’s looking for assistance,
answers for some problem that she has.

So, she inquires about information,
she’s looking for information.

To get an answer to something

like a problem
or an issue you need to solve,

we can use “ask.”

Next is “to invite.”

Here are some examples,

“I asked some friends
to come over this weekend.”

“Why don’t you ask your co-workers
to go out for a drink?”

So, in the first example sentence,
we can replace “asked” in the past tense

with “invited” in past tense
and the meaning stays the same.

“I invited some friends
to come over this weekend.”

We can use “invite,”
of course, if we want

but invite sounds slightly
more formal than “ask.”

Instead of using the more formal “invite,”
we can use the more casual “ask”

like, “I asked some people
to come over this weekend,”

sounds slightly less formal
than “invited.”

In the second example sentence,
the same thing is true.

“Why don’t you ask your co-workers
to go out for a drink?”

We can replace “ask” here with “invite.”

“Why don’t you invite your co-workers
out for a drink.”

Again, “invite” sounds
slightly more formal than “ask.”

So, “ask” sounds a little bit more casual
so it sounds a little bit more natural

and a little more friendly
than the word “invite.”

Okay.

Now, let’s look at some other words
we can add to “ask”

to make different meanings.

First is, “Ask for it.”

This means, to behave in a way
that invites punishment or retribution.

So, “retribution” means–
it can refer to punishment

or it can refer to
a reward as well,

but in this case,
it’s more for a negative reaction.

Let’s look at some examples,

“The drunk guy in the bar
is shouting at everyone.

He’s really asking for it.”

“Your boyfriend broke up with you?

Well, you kind of asked for it.
You never made time for him.”

So, in these example sentences,

we see some behaviors
that invite punishment

or that invite a negative outcome.

In the first example,

a drunk person in a bar
is shouting at everybody

so the speaker says,
“He’s really asking for it,”

meaning the drunk guy
is inviting punishment,

is inviting a negative outcome
because of his behavior.

“He’s really asking for it.”

We see that this is used
in the progressive form,

“He’s asking for it,”
meaning that his current behavior,

the behavior he is showing now
is inviting punishment

or is inviting a negative outcome.

In the second sentence,

where a speaker is probably
having a conversation with someone,

They say,
“You broke up with your boyfriend.

Well, you kind of asked for it,”
past tense,

“because you didn’t make time for him.”

“You didn’t make any time for him,”
shows that, perhaps, in the past,

the listener did not behave in a way
that invited a positive outcome,

meaning you asked for
your boyfriend to break up with you

or you invited this negative outcome
because of your actions.

You did not make time
for your boyfriend,

therefore, he broke up with you.

So, you did not have
the correct behavior.

You invited a negative outcome
because of your actions.

Okay, the next one is,
“ask for trouble.”

This means to behave in a way
that is likely to end in trouble.

This is very similar to “ask for it”
but instead of just receiving punishment,

it could just be a troubling situation
that results.

Let’s look at some examples,

“That kid is running around
kicking his classmates.

He’s just asking for trouble.”

“Trying to enter the country
without a passport

is just asking for trouble.”

So, in both of these sentences,
we see “asking for trouble”

is used in the progressive tense.

So, doing some action is likely to result
in a troubling situation in the future.

Perhaps it’s not necessarily punishment
but it’s going to cause trouble.

It’s going to cause a problem.

In the first example,

a kid running around
kicking his classmates is a bad behavior

and it’s going to invite trouble.

In this case,
it’s probably going to be punishment

but to say, “He’s really asking for it,”

might suggest something
a little bit too violent,

like to say,
“He’s really asking for it,”

sounds a little bit too much
for a little kid.

So, perhaps,
“He’s asking for trouble,”

suggest that he’s causing
a troubling situation.

The kid might not have
severe strong punishment

as a result of his actions
but he could end up in trouble

because of his behavior.

In the second example,

“Trying to enter the country
without a passport

is just asking for trouble.”

It doesn’t necessarily mean
that there will be a punishment

for trying to enter the country.

While it might be likely
that trouble does result

or that punishment does result,

it’s more general to say
just asking for trouble.

So, this action trying to enter
the country without a passport,

this action is just
asking for trouble,

is inviting some troubling situation
to occur.

Okay, I hope that this video
helps you level up your understanding

of the verb, “ask.”

If you have any questions or comments
or if you know a different way

of using the verb, “ask,”

please let us know
in the comment section below this video.

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and check us out at EnglishClass101.com

for some more resources.

Thanks very much for watching this episode
of Know Your Verbs

and I’ll see you again next time.

Bye-bye.

Ask and you shall receive.

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We’ve asked all the
questions today, goodbye.