What does it mean to infer? What is inference?

Question

Have you been asked to "infer" an author's meaning in a written work?

Answer 1

Has your teacher asked you to infer something in an author's writing? To infer, or use inference - means to figure something out without reading it as an exact fact. It means to "read between the lines", or to read like a detective and pick up clues, then conclude a meaning.

We do it all the time, in everyday situations. For example, if your parent is giving you a stern look, but isn't saying a word, you can figure out (or infer) that your parent is not happy. Similarly, if an author describes a person as being in a "dark" mood, we can infer that means the person is not in a happy mood. If an author has a character yawning and walking into a bedroom, we can infer that character is going to go to sleep.

These are basic examples of inferences. Levels of inference vary according to the level of material one is reading.

Answer 2

An inference is an educated guess about what is going to happen next in a text or about something unstated in the text. Readers use inferences to gain a better understanding of what is happening in what they are reading. Because they are educated guesses, readers base their inferences off of clues they find in the text. It is this evidence that leads them to make an inference.