「offer」と「ask」の違いは何ですか。

Tonight in class we had this discussion. We were talking about the difference between "offer" and "ask".

Our discussion started with a question I asked:

Have you ever been offered anything on the street? Did you take what you were offered?

"Offer" means to ask someone if they want something. "Ask" just means to pose a question to someone.

Look at these definitions for "offer" from 英辞郎 on the web:

〔人が～を受け入れるよう〕申し出る、提示する
・He offered me a glass of wine. : 彼は私にグラス1杯のワインを勧めてくれました。

〔ほかの人のために～しようと〕提案する、言う
・They offered me to stay at their house. : 彼らは私に家に泊まるように言ってくれました。
・He offered to drive me home. : 彼は私に、（車で）家まで送ろうかと言ってくれました。

So these sentences are strange:

× I was offered the direction from here to the station. <- "Would you like me to give you directions from here to the station?"
○ I was asked the directions from here to the station. <- Someone wanted to know how to get to the station.
× I'd like to offer you to lend your pen.
○ I'd like to ask you to lend me your pen. <- Could I borrow your pen?

Look at the question at the top of the page again. Another way to ask the same thing is:

Has anyone tried to give you something on the street? Did you take what they tried to give you?

However, be careful. "Offer" and "give" aren't exactly the same thing.

× She gave me a cup of tea, so I took it.
○ She offered me a cup of tea, so I took it. = She asked me if I wanted a cup of tea, so I said yes. Then she gave it to me.

You could answer the question at the top of the page like this:

I was offered some tissues as I was coming out of the station. They're really convenient to have in my bag, so I took them.

We're always offering you advice on your English; we hope you'll take it.