Difference between 頼む and 聞く


Is there any difference between 頼む and 聞く? I've checked a few dictionaries,
and it seems to me that maybe 頼む is more humble and 聞く more generic. Would
that be it? Are they generally interchangeable?

I think they both mean 'ask'. For example:

友だちに何時と聞きました。 友だちに何時と 頼み ました。




「[頼]{たの}む」 means "to ask a favor", "to make a request", etc.

「[聞]{き}く」 means "to ask (a question)"

I cannot think of a situation where 「[頼]{たの}む」 and 「[聞]{き}く」 are
interchangeable except for in a **_very_** informal conversation where a
question being asked involves a request. Careful speakers, however, would try
to avoid this.

「[車]{くるま}を[貸]{か}してくれる **か** (or **かどうか** )、スミスに **聞いて** みよう。」= "Let's ask
Smith if he could lend us his car!"

To say the same thing using 「頼む」, one will need to make a change in the middle
part as well.

「車を貸してくれる **よう** (or **ように** )、スミスに **頼んで** みよう。」

Careful speakers would not swap 「頼む」 for 「聞く」 or vice versa in the example
sentences above. That, of course, means that some people actually would do
that.

Let's take a look at your sentences.

「友だちに何時と聞きました。」＝「友達に『何時？』と **聞きました** 。」 = "I asked my friend what time it
was."

This is a good sentence and you could NOT use 「頼む」 here.

「友だちに何時と **頼みました** 。」

This makes no sense, I am afraid. Where is the request that is being made?

To use 「頼む」 correctly, one could alter the sentence to:

「友達に5時に来るように頼みました。」 or

「友達に5時に来てと頼みました。」

Naturally, you could NOT use 「聞く」 in these sentences.

= "I asked my friend to come at 5 o'clock."

