Asks is a simple verb meaning to request something of someone. In practical use, it appears in questions and polite requests, often contracted in speech (like you’d hear “asks him” or “asks for”). It surfaces in present tense with third-person singular form “asks.” The pronunciation is a short, clipped cluster ending in an s sound, typical of English question verbs in everyday speech.
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"She asks her teacher for extra help after class."
"He asks a lot of questions during the meeting."
"The clerk asks for your ID before the sale."
"They ask permission before using someone else’s equipment."
Ask comes from Old English ascian, which meant to seek, demand, or inquire; related forms include aske (archaic). The root is Proto-Germanic *aiskijaną and is tied to the verb ‘to inquire’ across Germanic languages. The form transformed through Middle English into asken/assen, with contraction and simplification leading to today’s asks as the third-person singular present of ‘to ask.’ Early usage focused on beseeching or requesting information; gradually it settled into the modern sense of making a request or seeking information. The sense development paralleled other Germanic languages where the concept of requesting information or favor remained central to everyday communication. In Shakespearean times, the word appeared more broadly, sometimes combining with “ask” to imply try, seek, or demand; the modern, concise usage we now rely on as a simple verb in present tense is a durable consolidation of centuries of evolution. The spelling and pronunciation also reflect the Great Vowel Shift’s aftermath, with the final -s maintaining the plural/singular agreement and the sibilant pronunciation becoming a crisp, terminal sound that is easy to attach to a one-syllable word. First known written attestations appear in early Middle English texts, with similar forms found across Germanic cousins, suggesting a shared tendency to phrase requests in a direct, compact sense that remains the core of “asks” today.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "asks" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "asks" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "asks"
-sks sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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US/UK/AU pronunciation centers on a short, clipped kernel /æsk/ followed by a final voiceless /z/ or /s/ sound, depending on phonetic context. In careful speech you might hear /æskz/ as two chunks, but in rapid speech it often reduces to a near-homogeneous /æskz/. The tip: keep the tongue at the alveolar ridge for /s/ and /z/, and ensure a quick release after /k/ before the final /s/ or /z/. IPA: US /æskz/, UK /ɑːks/ (often with vowel length variation), AU /ɑːks/. You’ll feel the tip behind the upper teeth briefly before producing the final sibilant. Audio resources like Pronounce or Cambridge dictionary will provide native-speaker examples to hear the cadence and the subtle fineness of the final sibilant.
Common mistakes: (1) Voicing the final /s/ as a /z/ with a voiced or elongated ending; keep it voiceless in careful speech and let the voicing occur only if the next word begins with a vowel and you’re linking; (2) Over-lengthening the vowel before the /s/; keep the vowel short, especially in rapid speech. Correction tips: practice /æsk/ with a sharp, brief /k/ closure and a crisp /s/ release; use a short vowel duration and ensure the /k/ is released into the final /s/. For non-native speakers, avoiding a prolonged /k/ into /s/ helps maintain the natural rhythm. Focus on producing an accurate alveolar /s/ at the end by placing the tongue tip near the alveolar ridge and releasing quickly.
US: short lax vowel before /s/ with a clear /æ/; final /s/ often curts after a tensed /æ/; UK: more open /ɑː/ in some dialects, and final /s/ can be voiceless with less vowel reduction; AU: tends to maintain short-lax /æ/ or broad /ɑː/ depending on region; rhoticity is less relevant here as r is not involved. The key is the final sibilant: US often has a crisper /s/ or /z/ depending on following sound; UK/AU can display slight vowel quality differences but the final /s/ is consistently voiceless in similar contexts. IPA: US /æskz/, UK /ɑːks/, AU /ɑːks/.
The difficulty lies in the quick, compressed vowel and the final sibilant cluster. Many speakers slip into a /sk/ or mispronounce the ending as /z/ with voicing when the next word begins with a vowel, which alters rhythm. Also, non-native speakers may over-articulate the /k/ before the /s/ or run together the vowel and the consonant. The exact articulation requires precise alveolar tongue placement, a brief vowel, a sharp /k/ release, and a final voiceless /s/ or a voiceless /z/ in connected speech. Accurate practice with minimal pairs helps distinguish the subtle k-to-s boundary.
A distinctive question about 'asks' is whether the final /s/ can sound like /z/ in connected speech. In careful speech, the final is typically voiceless /s/ unless the following word begins with a vowel and voice may spread slightly, creating a voiced tact in rapid speech. You’ll hear a near-equal contrast between /s/ and /z/ within connected phrases; the voicing of the final /s/ is influenced by the next word’s initial consonant or vowel. IPA cues: /æsk/ + /z/ when appropriate, else /æsk/ with a voiceless suffix.
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