248-infer vs imply

[matilda]

Hello all

Is there any differences between (infer) and (imply) in reading questions? For example:
What is inferred in this passage?
What is implied in this passage?

Regards

Matilda

[JSmiley]

What is inferred in this passage?
What is implied in this passage?

The reader, listener, or reciever of the message infers.
The message itself implies.

The proper usage is:
What can you infer?
What do we infer?
What will she infer?
What has he inferred?
What did they infer?

And if you use 'it inferred' then 'it' needs to be something capable of recieving the message and inferring its implied meaning.

Good question!

Jesse

[MikeNewYork]

Hello all

Is there any differences between (infer) and (imply) in reading questions? For example:
What is inferred in this passage?
What is implied in this passage?

Regards

Matilda

As Jesse said:

What do you infer from this passage?
What does this passage imply to you?

Be careful! If you look up "infer" in major dictionaries, you will find one of the meanings is "imply". That should be marked as an error. That definition arose from chronic misuse of the word.

USAGE NOTE Infer is sometimes confused with imply, but the distinction is a useful one. When we say that a speaker or sentence implies something, we mean that it is conveyed or suggested without being stated outright: When the mayor said that she would not rule out a business tax increase, she implied (not inferred) that some taxes might be raised. Inference, on the other hand, is the activity performed by a reader or interpreter in drawing conclusions that are not explicit in what is said: When the mayor said that she would not rule out a tax increase, we inferred that she had been consulting with some new financial advisers, since her old advisers were in favor of tax reductions.


The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2004, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.