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English grammar and communications hints and tips
Is it imply or infer?
Many people readily mix up these terms.
Both of these are verbs (doing words), but mean different things. Here’s what they mean.
Imply
This means to ‘hint at’ or ‘suggest’.
So, someone might ‘imply’ that your grammar is poor (by gently pointing out mistakes, but not actually saying it!).
Infer
This means to ‘deduce’ or ‘draw a conclusion from what was said’.
If someone sends your e-mail back for corrections, you might ‘infer’ (or conclude) from that action that your English needed reviewing, before that e-mail could be sent.
Remember, whenever you have those niggling queries going around the office (like ‘where to put this apostrophe’, ‘do we use that or which; dispatch or despatch; complimentary or complementary; practise or practice’), do just simply drop us an e-mail or call.
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