The article analyzes converse-like semantic relations between English verbs of questioning and answering, primarily ask–answer, as well as question–reply and inquire–respond. The analysis focuses on participant roles, argument alternation, direction of the speech act, and presuppositional dependence. The findings show that ask and answer are not strict converses of the buy–sell type because an act of asking does not logically entail an act of answering. At the same time, the use of answer normally presupposes a preceding question or request. The pair is therefore interpreted as a functional-oppositional relation displaying features of communicative converseness.

English, questioning verbs, answering verbs, ask, answer, converse relation, lexical semantics, communicative event, presupposition, antonymy.

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