noun
Polite noun for a question, request for information, or customer contact. Commonly used in business, websites, and formal correspondence.
お問い合わせはメールでお願いします。
Please direct inquiries by email.
商品についてのお問い合わせが増えている。
Inquiries about the product are increasing.
Plain form without the honorific お; used in neutral or internal contexts, while お問い合わせ is polite and customer-facing.
Polite prefix お + 問い合わせ (といあわせ, 'inquiry'), from 問う (とう, 'to ask') + 合わせる (あわせる, 'to put together').