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THE LANGUAGE ARTS MAGAZINE
Name: ________________________________________________________ Date: ______________
Activity: “Grammar: Ultimate Showdown” • Skill: Commonly Confused Words
Imply vs. Infer
Imply means to express indirectly, to hint,
to indicate.
Examples:
“What is that supposed to mean?” said Logan.
“Are you implying that I cheated?”
Infer means to come to a conclusion based on the
evidence presented, to guess, to surmise.
Examples:
“I infer from that remark that you think I cheated,”
said Logan.
The puzzled look on Lisa’s face implied that
she wasn’t expecting me.
I inferred from the puzzled look on Lisa’s fact that
she wasn’t expecting me.
Directions: Circle the correct boldface word in each sentence below.
1. Christina winked, implying/inferring that she was in on the joke.
2. I imply/infer from the fact that most people are wearing short sleeves that it is warm outside.
3. I can often imply/infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word from other information in the sentence.
4. Nawaz implied/inferred that I could come to his party if I helped him clean his room. 5. The end of the movie implies/infers that Andy’s adventures are not over.
6. I implied/inferred from Nora’s message—“Call me the second you get this!”—that Jared had finally called her.
7. Jennifer’s stomach growled, implying/inferring that she was hungry.
8. I implied/inferred from Ricardo’s expression that he wanted a slice of our pizza.
Directions: For each sentence below, fill in the blank with a form of imply or infer. Then write your own
sentence using a form of imply or infer.
9. Her sports clothes ________________ that Emiko is about to go to practice.
10. Jorge ________________ from Elise’s bored expression that she was not enjoying the movie.
11. Megan _________________ that she would like to come to the play with Leslie and me.
12. His smile __________________ that Justin was satisfied with his present.
13. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Scholastic sCOPE activity • march 12, 2012
Uses: Copy machine, opaque projector, or transparency master for overhead projector. Scholastic Inc. grants subscribers of Scholastic Scope permission to reproduce this page for use in their classrooms. Copyright ©2012 by Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.
The words imply and infer are often confused and misused. However, their meanings are nearly opposite.
Here’s what you need to know to use them correctly: