What is inference?
When we read stories, watch films or TV shows, look at pictures or play video games, we use lots of different skills to work out what is happening.
One of these skills is called inference.
Inferring is a bit like being a detective. You have to find the clues to work out the hidden information.
Imagine the main character in a story skips into a room, smiling brightly and waving to their friends. You could infer that the character is happy.
The text hasn’t told you the character is happy, but you can work it out from the clues given.
Watch: Inference
What is inference?
Narrator: Is that a good book you're reading?
Inspector: It's great! It's about a crime.
Look someone has stolen Lord Fartbasket's custard pies!
They're his favourite pudding, and he's very angry!
He thinks it must have been the housekeeper or the dog.
And…I know who did it!
Narrator: So the story tells you who the thief is?
Inspector: No! But if you read very carefully there are clues and you can work it out by inferring.
Look, it says here that the housekeeper is looking nervous.
Why is she nervous?
And here it says that there is a yellow stain on her apron.
Why? Because she was eating the custard pies!
Narrator: Ahh, that's clever. So what happens next?
Inspector: He says…he says it must have been the dog!
He's a fool!
Now the housekeeper is going to get away with it!
No…hang on…the dog knew it was her too!
And she was hiding a pie under her dress all along!
Narrator: That is a good book - made you think past the obvious and read between the lines.
Inspector: Yes!
And I was right!
I found the evidence to prove my case.
Activity 1
Activity 2
To answer inference questions, you have to examine the whole scene.
Look at the pictures of the girl.
Answer the questions about what you can infer about what has happened.
Write your answers down on paper or discuss them with a friend or family member.
- How was the girl feeling in the first picture? How can you tell?
- Why do you think the girl was feeling that way?
- How was the girl feeling in the second picture? How can you tell?
- Why do you think the girl was feeling that way?
- What could have happened to make her drop her ice cream?
Activity 3
Use inference to match these sentences to the correct situation. One has been done for you.
| Sentence | Situation |
|---|---|
| The character is packing her sun hat and sun cream into a suitcase. | It is the character's mum's birthday. |
| A character is looking at cards that say 'Mum' on them and carrying flowers. | The character is nervous and is waiting for something to happen. |
| The character is walking down the road with red eyes, wet cheeks and their head down. | The character is angry. |
| A character is pacing up and down and keeps looking at her watch. | The character is going on holiday. |
| The character's fists are clenched together and their face is red. | The character has won a running race. |
| A character jumps for joy with his family. | The character is sad and has been crying. |
Activity 4
Instead of telling us directly, authors often only give you clues about a character’s emotions by describing their body language.
As the reader, you have to use your inference skills to work out how a character is really feeling.
Have a go at this quiz to test whether you can match descriptions of body language with suitable emotions!
Play our fun English game Crystal Explorers. game
Use grammar, punctuation and spelling skills to explore jungles, caves and tombs on your mission!
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