We use the verbs infer and imply to describe how the meaning of someone’s words may be understood when that meaning is not exact or hasn’t been made clear.
To infer means to take or deduce meaning from what someone has said or written, even though that meaning hasn’t been expressed explicitly.
To imply means to put meaning into a message indirectly, so again, the meaning hasn’t been expressed explicitly.
Or, put another way:
· When meaning is inferred, the hearer’s or reader’s interpretation of a message may be different from the speaker’s intended meaning.
· When a speaker implies, they impart meaning that may not be what the hearer interprets from the message.
Both terms suggest the possibility that meaning may be uncertain.
Anna may have meant she was leaving and coming back soon, but because she didn’t comment on her likely return, Adam inferred that she was never coming back.
Sometimes, people don’t say precisely what they mean for fear of offending the listener, but perhaps Ben just meant he’d never heard anything like Claire’s idea before. Again, because he wasn’t explicit, she may have drawn the wrong conclusion.
Here, it’s unlikely that the boss really wanted a ton of ideas (her desk would collapse!), so David has most likely inferred correctly.
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For something to be inferred by the listener/reader, it must first have been implied by the speaker/writer.
One way to remember which happens first is to put imply and infer in alphabetical order. An implication has to happen before an inference can.
The verbs infer and imply are both about communication and meaning.
Inferred is the past tense of infer.
Implied is the past tense of imply.
Inferred means to have taken meaning from something even though that meaning has not been communicated explicitly.
Implied means to give meaning to something indirectly or without explicitly communicating it.
If you’d like help making sure you’ve used inferred and implied correctly in your writing, our experts will be happy to check!
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