upon being asked

USAGE SUMMARY

'upon being asked' is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when you want to indicate that the action or behavior described happened after someone asked a question. For example: "He gave me the wrong answer upon being asked the question."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Science

Wiki

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

43 human-written examples

Upon being asked what had happened, he said, "Yeah, he's dead.

The New Yorker

"No, that's not what I heard," he said, upon being asked if there was any substance to the rumours.

The Guardian - Sport

"When he feels it," she said, upon being asked what advice she might give Federer on when to hang it up.

The New Yorker

"At different moments in different situations I get asked these questions," he told Zenit's website, upon being asked if he'd reconsider his position.

The Guardian - Sport

Upon being asked to elaborate, Contractor is required to respond with "Oh, I'd love to tell you, but I signed an N.D.A., so legally I can't".

The New Yorker

AVB speaks: "We've been using this competition with the strong players," he says, in English that's a lot better than my Portuguese, upon being asked why he's picked such a strong team.

The Guardian - Sport

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

17 human-written examples

Free thinkers question the status quo and democracy is built upon questions being asked.

Huffington Post

Laboratory methods for culturing surface attached biofilms are varied and their use depends upon the question being asked.

Biofouling

Suddenly, players for whom the warm-up is as second nature as their exhalation upon striking the ball were being asked to imagine getting along without it.

The New York Times - Sports

The answer changes depending upon who is asked.

The New York Times

Depends upon who was asked, and there were more tribes with a stake in what was going on than could quickly be counted: politicians, cops, Pashtuns, refugees, clerics and Green Berets; firefighters, Uzbeks, widows, orphans, amputees and marines.

The New York Times

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Use "upon being asked" to clearly indicate that a response or action directly follows a question, creating a cause-and-effect relationship in your writing.

Common error

While "upon" and "on" can sometimes be interchangeable, "upon being asked" often sounds more formal and emphatic than "on being asked". Choose "upon" for a more elevated tone, but be mindful of sounding overly stiff in informal contexts.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "upon being asked" functions as a prepositional phrase introducing an adverbial clause of time, indicating the timing of an action or statement. As demonstrated by Ludwig, it clarifies when a specific event occurred in relation to a question.

Expression frequency: Very common

Frequent in

News & Media

70%

Science

15%

Wiki

10%

Less common in

Formal & Business

3%

Encyclopedias

1%

Reference

1%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, "upon being asked" is a versatile phrase used to indicate that a response or action occurs directly following a question. Ludwig AI confirms its grammatical correctness and common usage. The phrase is most frequently found in news and media, science, and wiki sources, indicating a neutral to formal register. When writing, using "upon being asked" adds clarity by establishing a cause-and-effect relationship between the question and the subsequent action. While "on being asked" is a viable alternative, "upon being asked" often provides a more emphatic and formal tone.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

on being questioned

This alternative uses a similar grammatical structure but with the preposition 'on' instead of 'upon'.

when questioned

This alternative is a more concise way of saying "upon being asked", focusing on the act of questioning.

when queried

This alternative uses a more formal verb, 'queried', to describe the act of asking.

following the question

This alternative emphasizes the temporal sequence after a question is posed.

in response to the question

This alternative is more formal and explicit about the question being answered.

in answer to the inquiry

This alternative highlights that a response is being provided to a formal inquiry.

after the inquiry

This alternative is more general and emphasizes the sequence of events following an inquiry.

when prompted

This alternative implies that the person needed some encouragement to answer.

being interrogated

This alternative strongly implies questioning, but uses the passive form of 'interrogate'.

after being polled

This alternative highlights that the question comes from poll.

FAQs

How can I use "upon being asked" in a sentence?

You can use "upon being asked" to indicate that something happened immediately after a question was posed. For example: "Upon being asked about the company's profits, the CEO declined to comment."

What's a more formal alternative to "upon being asked"?

A more formal alternative could be "in response to the question" or "following the inquiry", depending on the specific nuance you want to convey.

Is "on being asked" grammatically correct instead of "upon being asked"?

Yes, "on being asked" is also grammatically correct, but "upon being asked" often carries a slightly more formal or emphatic tone. The choice between them depends on the desired style and context.

What is the difference between "upon being asked" and "after being asked"?

"Upon being asked" suggests immediacy, meaning the response happened almost instantly after the question. "After being asked" ("after being asked") simply indicates that the response happened sometime after the question, without implying the same sense of immediacy.