A user asks a simple question or makes a simple request; the bot provides a direct response.
- U → A: Inquiry → Fulfillment
- U (Optional): Sequence closer (“Thanks”, “Got it”).
This primitive appears across all dialogue forms.
Guidance
- Optimise for minimisation: answer first, then offer one-tap next moves.
- Prefer explicit evidence for non-trivial answers (source, timestamp).
- Keep turns short; avoid multi-part instructions (use extended telling instead).
Repair affordances
Repeat, paraphrase, example, definition
Next moves
Ask a follow-up, see sources, change scope, or start a new activity.
Metrics
- Adjacency-pair completion rate (Inquiry→Answer)
- Repair rate & time-to-correct
- Evidence uptake (user opens source)
Related patterns
Enables
- Conversation — user inquiry appears across all dialogue forms
Related
- Extended telling — for multi-part answers that exceed the scope of a single inquiry response
Preceded by
- Bot repair — information capture via this primitive is used to resolve bot-side ambiguity
- Opening (User) — when the opening is a simple question, the encounter passes straight into user inquiry