What is implicature?

What is implicature? It’s when people say one thing but mean another, kind of like a secret message hidden inside a regular sentence.

Imagine you're playing with your best friend, and you both really want to go to the park. But instead of saying "Let's go to the park," you say, "I’m going to get my bike." That’s implicature, you’re hinting at something bigger without telling it all out loud.

Think about when your mom says, "You can have dessert after dinner." She isn’t just talking about the order of events, she’s also saying, "Don’t eat dessert before dinner!" That's like a sneaky extra message inside her words.

Or maybe you’re at school, and your friend says, “I don’t care if it rains.” But they’ve already packed an umbrella. They probably mean, “I think it might rain,” even though they said the opposite, that’s implicature in action too!

It's like when you say one thing but let your actions or feelings show what you really mean, and everyone knows what you're talking about! What is implicature? It’s when people say one thing but mean another, kind of like a secret message hidden inside a regular sentence.

Imagine you're playing with your best friend, and you both really want to go to the park. But instead of saying "Let's go to the park," you say, "I’m going to get my bike." That’s implicature, you’re hinting at something bigger without telling it all out loud.