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Published byCory Lester Modified over 8 years ago
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Imply vs. Infer
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I MPLY VS. I NFER Imply and infer are opposites, like a throw and a catch. To imply is to hint at something, but to infer is to make an educated guess. The speaker does the implying, and the listener does the inferring.
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To imply is to suggest something indirectly. If you hand your friend a stack of napkins during dinner, you imply that she needs them. Things can imply, too, like a chimney that implies a fireplace.
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Check out this example: By their very definition, flea markets imply cheap prices for used and unwanted items, as is still the case in most other places. ( New York Times )
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Infer is on the receiving end of imply, yet infer is often used to mean imply. To infer is to gather, deduce, or figure out.
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Like baseball? Theodore Bernstein, in his classic The Careful Writer, gives us a way to keep imply and infer straight: "The implier is the pitcher; the inferrer is the catcher."
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