When to use ask, reply, answer and etc.

[Ruhe]

When to use ask, reply, answer and etc. in lemon?

I read some novels and is confused. For e.g. "I think so." He asked. I mean why he used the word 'asked' instead of 'answered'?

What are the differences betwen answer and reply?

Thanks.

[Nate Hunter]

I ask you a question. The act of posing a question to a person or thing is when you use "ask".

"Reply" and "Answer" are synonyms, words with similar or identical meaning. The difference in this case comes from the connotations of the words, Daniel.

If I "reply" it generally indicates a more certain or confident air in the response I give. If I "answer", it's either something that annoys me to have to explain, or perhaps something more common knowledge. However, these connotations are not universal, and simply my opinions.

As synonyms, "reply" and "answer", along with a multitude of others terms such as "respond", "explain", and "rebut" (to name a few), have the same meaning when used. English is filled with synonyms, as well as homonyms (words which sound alike but are spelled differently) and antonyms (words with opposite meaning).