ask
æsk
Ask is not questioning — it is pulling something from their side to yours
The picture You hold a hand out toward what you do not have and draw it from their side over to yours. Tell sets your thing into their hands; ask draws their thing over to you.
Where the picture shows up in ask
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drawing an answer over
Can I ask you a question?
kæn aɪ æsk juː ə ˈkwestʃən
Mind if I ask you something?
A hand goes half out toward the answer sitting in someone else's head, and waits.
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drawing an action over
She asked me to close the window.
ʃiː æskt miː tuː kloʊz ðə ˈwɪndoʊ
She wanted the window shut.
Someone in the cold seat draws the window-closing hand over to her side.
Ask + person + to verb is the shape for pulling an action over.
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drawing a nod over
Ask your manager before you take the day off.
æsk jʊr ˈmænɪdʒər bɪˈfɔːr juː teɪk ðə deɪ ɔːf
Clear it with your manager before you take the day.
The day off is laid in front of the manager while you wait for the nod to come back.
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drawing a price over
They are asking too much for that old car.
ðeɪ ɑːr ˈæskɪŋ tuː mʌtʃ fɔːr ðæt oʊld kɑːr
That used car is way overpriced.
The number taped to the windscreen reaches far too far toward the buyer's wallet.
The sum a seller is trying to pull over is what they are asking.
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drawing the person over
They asked us over for dinner.
ðeɪ æskt ʌs ˈoʊvər fɔːr ˈdɪnər
They have invited us to dinner.
One phone call pulls someone all the way to the chair at your table.
All of it in one picture
Ask is an arrow pulling toward you. Pull an answer and it is a question; pull an action and it is a favour; pull a nod and it is permission. Pull a number and it is the price a seller is after, and pull the person themselves toward your table and it is an invitation.