There appear to be three different words in Russian for the English word 'to ask': спрашивать, просить, and задавать. Are these synonyms, and if not, how are they different?
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"Задавать" part is covered already by Nikolay's answer, the rest is covered in the duplicate question.– shabunc ♦Jan 1, 2020 at 17:56
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1 Answer
спрашивать: "ask" as in inquire.
просить: "ask" as in politely or humbly request.
задавать: is not, on its own, a translation of "to ask", but you're clearly thinking of the phrase задавать вопрос, "pose a question". It's a little more formal and it's also what you use when you don't specify what the question is (as in "I asked you a question").
answered Jan 1, 2020 at 17:15