Difference between imply and infer

[cooliegirly]

What is the difference between the word imply and infer regarding their meanings?

[Conchita]

To imply and to infer can both have the meaning of 'to hint' or 'to suggest':
are you inferring that the policeman took brikes? He seems to be implying that we have made him lose money.

Now, to infer has the additional sense of 'to deduce': one can infer from his statement that he had ordered the attack himself.

Additional meaning of 'imply:
an implied agreement is an agreement which is not stated, but inderstood.

[Van Khanh]

Hi,

Imply, infer: Opposite meaning.

Imply= Not say directly, only suggest.
Ex:
Her tone implied that her time and his patience were limited.

Infer = Come to the conclusion.
Ex: I inferred his displeasure from his absence.


Sometimes, "infer" has the meaning of "imply", for example in newspaper, in speech, but personally, I don't like that. I think it's solecism.

Bye.
khanh

[Van Khanh]

Hi,

Imply, infer: Opposite meaning.

Imply= Not say directly, only suggest.
Ex:
Her tone implied that her time and her patience were limited.

Infer = Come to the conclusion.
Ex: I inferred his displeasure from his absence.


Sometimes, "infer" has the meaning of "imply", for example in newspaper, in speech, but personally, I don't like that. I think it's solecism.

Bye.
khanh[/quote]

[Yankee]

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I think the note on usage that you can find in some of the online dictionaries is good:

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."
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Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English