What is inferring?
 Drawing conclusion/guessing the implied/unstated
meaning in a passage
 It is also called: reading between the lines
 Use the information in the text to guess other things
(guess the implied meaning, the unstated things, the
meaning of unknown words, etc.)
 Good readers make inferences all the time as they read
Example:
Example of inferring from a conversation:
A: Look at the long line. Do you think we ‘ll get in?
B: I think so. Some of these people already have tickets.
A: OK…you buy the tickets, I”ll get some popcorn.
Where are these people?
What are they talking about?
Which words help you guess the topic?
Answer:
They are in front of a movie theater
They are talking about going to a
movie
Words that help us guess the topic:
line, get in, tickets, pop corn
When reading a story, try to
answer the following questions:
 When does the part of a story take place?
 Who are the people in the story?
 Where are they?
 What is their relationship?
 What happened before and after that part of the
story?
 What can you guess about the characters?
 Etc.