ancillary questions

USAGE SUMMARY

"ancillary questions" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
You can use it to refer to questions that are related to a primary question. For example, "The primary question was about the company's financials, but the investor had to answer some ancillary questions about the management team before they could continue."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Science

Academia

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

3 human-written examples

"The other kinds of ancillary questions -- the church is in crisis, they need to start ordaining women or they need to stop ordaining homosexuals -- that is the stuff that makes Catholics say, 'Oh, go away.' " Historically, the subject has had little allure for buyers of books.

The New York Times

Thus, discussions of epigenesis and preformation often bring in other ancillary questions and are difficult to separate from their contexts.

SEP

While it's convenient to dismiss China's veto alliance with Russia as purely ideological, it's nonetheless still important to ask the ancillary questions surrounding China's position: What does China have a stake in?

Huffington Post

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

57 human-written examples

There was also the ancillary question of whether Felt was competent to make that decision".

The Guardian

Alan Eastham, the State Department's special negotiator for conflict diamonds, said the free-trade issue had to be resolved but that it was an ancillary question and would not hold up the initiative.

The New York Times

III contains an implicit jurisdictional bar and, accordingly, do not address the highly provocative ancillary question whether such a bar would prohibit federal courts from entertaining suits even against consenting States.

Cornell University

If you believe that the answer to this question is yes, an ancillary question is at what point is violence acceptable when you are being continually subjected to physical abuse by another person?

Huffington Post

However, any conclusion derived from this approach is confounded by the ancillary question of whether local adaptation to the urban environment predates or arose subsequent to initial lineage splitting between the molecular forms.

BMC Ecology

Therefore, the guiding research question of the study is: "How are big data technologies being used in manufacturing?" "How are big data technologies being used in manufacturing?" To answer the main research question, five ancillary research questions that relate to various aspects of big data in manufacturing were identified.

Journal of Big Data

Ancillary survey questions included 4 self-reported health literacy questions[ 22], marital status (recoded into married versus unmarried), race (white, African American, other), education (≤ high school, some college, ≥ college graduate), employment status (employed versus not employed) and income (recoded into ≥ $20,000, $20-40,00020-40,00000).

BMC Medical Research Methodology

Compliance to the Toolkit After-Death Bereaved Family Member Interview, the ancillary 4 questions for interviewer evaluation and GP's interviews was assessed, alongside adherence to the retrospective chart review.

BMC Palliative Care

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When dealing with complex topics, use "ancillary questions" to explore related but less central aspects, ensuring a thorough understanding without losing focus on the main subject.

Common error

Avoid including "ancillary questions" that do not directly support or illuminate the primary topic. Ensure they remain relevant and contribute to a more complete understanding.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "ancillary questions" functions as a noun phrase, typically serving to identify or categorize inquiries that are supplementary or related to a primary line of questioning. Ludwig confirms its correct and usable structure.

Expression frequency: Rare

Frequent in

News & Media

33%

Science

33%

Academia

33%

Less common in

Formal & Business

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Wiki

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, "ancillary questions" correctly refers to supplementary inquiries related to a primary topic. While grammatically sound and validated by Ludwig AI, its frequency is rare but suitable across diverse contexts like news, science, and academia. Alternative phrases such as "supplementary questions" or "related inquiries" can offer stylistic variations. Remember to use "ancillary questions" to broaden the scope of inquiry while maintaining relevance to the main subject.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

supplementary questions

Replaces "ancillary" with "supplementary", emphasizing the additive nature of the questions.

related inquiries

Uses "inquiries" instead of "questions", offering a slightly more formal tone and replacing "ancillary" with "related", focusing on the connection to the main subject.

additional questions

Substitutes "ancillary" with "additional", highlighting that these questions are added to the primary set.

secondary questions

Replaces "ancillary" with "secondary", directly indicating the lower importance or priority of these questions.

follow-up questions

Uses "follow-up" to indicate that the questions arise as a direct result of a previous discussion or inquiry.

supporting questions

Replaces "ancillary" with "supporting", which emphasizes how these questions aid in understanding a main question.

peripheral questions

Uses "peripheral" to suggest that the questions are on the outer edges of the main topic, less central but still relevant.

side questions

A more informal alternative, indicating questions that branch off from the main topic.

subordinate questions

Indicates that the questions are of a lower rank or importance in the overall discussion.

associated questions

Highlights the connection between the questions and the primary topic, without implying a strict hierarchy.

FAQs

What does "ancillary questions" mean?

"Ancillary questions" refers to additional or supplementary questions that are related to a main question or topic, often exploring related aspects or details.

How can I use "ancillary questions" in a sentence?

You might say, "After addressing the main concern, we moved on to the "supplementary questions" to clarify the details."

What are some alternatives to "ancillary questions"?

Alternatives include "related inquiries", "follow-up questions", or "additional questions", depending on the specific context.

Are "ancillary questions" the same as "irrelevant questions"?

No, "ancillary questions" are related to the main topic, while irrelevant questions are off-topic and do not contribute to understanding the primary subject.