Help with a problem with a sentence

[seven dwarfs]

My hubby is taking the Praxis test today! We both are in our 30's and it has been a long time since we have been in english class!

Please help explain why infer is wrong in this sentence!

Did Mr. Smith infer that our research paper had to be an Americian author?

Our choices as to what is wrong:

infer
that
had to be
author
no error

We know infer is wrong but why?

 

[crashbb]

Did you skip a word? How could a "research paper" BE an "American author"? It could be written about one or written by one, but it cannot be one.

Or am I just totally clueless.

 

[shortbun]

I'm having trouble with the whole sentence. Are you sure you typed it exactly?
Seems like it should be on or about an American author. Then-it should be imply, not infer. Imply means not specifically stated but intended. I think infer is used when you reach a conclusion based on gathering information. Seems like those two words are used incorrectly in place of each other a lot.
What Praxis is he taking? My husband just took his last Praxis for an education Masters degree, grades 4-9, Science and Math concentrations.

 

[KimR]

Also, I don't think 'infer' is technically incorrect, although 'imply' might be a better choice.

 

[SAHDad]

My guess as to why "infer" is incorrect is because "infer" means to deduce or conclude - it is often confused with "imply". If Mr. Smith is the person who gave the assigment (a research paper, possibly on an American author), then Mr. Smith would have implied that it had to be, rather than inferred that it had to be.

 

[crashbb]

Also, I don't think 'infer' is technically incorrect, although 'imply' might be a better choice.

We need more information to decide which word (infer or imply) is correct.

Was Mr. Smith the one speaking? If so, he likely IMPLIED the bit about the American author. On the other hand, if Mr. Smith listened to someone giving him instructions, he may have INFERED the bit about the American author. Without more information, we don't know. Though the imply/infer issue was also my first guess.

 

[FireDancer]

My guess as to why "infer" is incorrect is because "infer" means to deduce or conclude - it is often confused with "imply". If Mr. Smith is the person who gave the assigment (a research paper, possibly on an American author), then Mr. Smith would have implied that it had to be, rather than inferred that it had to be.

This is what I think. If Mr. Smith is another student then the sentence is correct but without additional context I assume that Mr. Smith is the teacher and the students (since our is used) are doing the inferring, not him.

 

[FergieTCat]

My hubby is taking the Praxis test today! We both are in our 30's and it has been a long time since we have been in english class!

Please help explain why infer is wrong in this sentence!

Did Mr. Smith infer that our research paper had to be an Americian author?

Our choices as to what is wrong:

infer
that
had to be
author
no error

We know infer is wrong but why?

Mr. Smith implies an instruction, you infer the meaning.

(My mother used to be a grammar teacher and this is one thing she has drilled into my head).

Assuming that Mr. Smith is the teacher. If he is one of the people writing the research paper, he would be inferring the instructions.

Also, FWIW, does the research paper have to be written by an American author, or does the research paper have to be about an American author? Is there a word missing?

 

[seven dwarfs]

Did you skip a word? How could a "research paper" BE an "American author"? It could be written about one or written by one, but it cannot be one.

Or am I just totally clueless.

Yes we typed it word for word, and we had the same issues as you! It seems as if we are having issues with the way these sentences are written. I feel like we are being tricked in so many ways! I think we have studied to much! Ugh.

 

[seven dwarfs]

I'm having trouble with the whole sentence. Are you sure you typed it exactly?
Seems like it should be on or about an American author. Then-it should be imply, not infer. Imply means not specifically stated but intended. I think infer is used when you reach a conclusion based on gathering information. Seems like those two words are used incorrectly in place of each other a lot.
What Praxis is he taking? My husband just took his last Praxis for an education Masters degree, grades 4-9, Science and Math concentrations.

praxis 1, He is teaching at a vocational school. He has owned his own company for 10 years and never got a degree. He has has taken 3 classes so far for his certificate but was just told last month he must take this test by June 1. So he is going today. It would have been nice to have more notice and also if he had completed some basic classes to refresh his old memory.

 

[shortbun]

Yes we typed it word for word, and we had the same issues as you! It seems as if we are having issues with the way these sentences are written. I feel like we are being tricked in so many ways! I think we have studied to much! Ugh.

American author needs to be the object of a phrase-prepositional phrase and your sentence is lacking a preposition. A person can not be a paper. I just reviewed this stuff with my son who is a freshman in high school and was having trouble with parts of speech and diagraming sentences.

Praxis tests are flawed just like all other tests. This was a practice question-right? The problem was imply versus infer.

 

[crashbb]

Yes we typed it word for word, and we had the same issues as you! It seems as if we are having issues with the way these sentences are written. I feel like we are being tricked in so many ways! I think we have studied to much! Ugh.

Well, then I would go with the others - INFER should be IMPLY.

BUT - you have to infer that Mr. Smith is the teacher and (if you accept that inference), Mr. Smith is a very bad teacher since a report cannot be an American author!

 

[seven dwarfs]

Mr. Smith implies, you infer the meaning.

(My mother used to be a grammar teacher and this is one thing she has drilled into my head).

I find grammer hard! I wish I had a mom who taught grammer to help me! Although, it may seem hard for me because it's been so long since I was in school and really thought about sentence structure!

 

[shortbun]

How did he study? My DH has signed up for all these study sights, used his text books, gotten flash cards to review and on and on, ad nauseum. Results take a long time. Might be a good idea to sign him up again just incase he didn't pass.

 

[seven dwarfs]

How did he study? My DH has signed up for all these study sights, used his text books, gotten flash cards to review and on and on, ad nauseum. Results take a long time. Might be a good idea to sign him up again just incase he didn't pass.

We have just used different online study test. We have tried to keep track of what he has trouble with and look up definitions of different types of grammer. He is pretty good with math and reading. He has several 100% on these practice tests.

He isn't so good at spelling and some of the grammer questions. I am hoping for the best but if he fails, we will look into buying a study guide and maybe take a class to help him. He only has to prove he took it by June 1, not pass it. (doesn't that seem strange??) Although he needs to pass it because he wants to get a degree not just a certificate.

I am glad they have this test because it is important to make sure a teacher is qualified. I just wish we had more notice and they waited until he has taken more classes! I think part of the problem is teaching a vocation is totally different from a teacher of math, reading etc. Yet they group these people together.

 

[FergieTCat]

I find grammer hard! I wish I had a mom who taught grammer to help me! Although, it may seem hard for me because it's been so long since I was in school and really thought about sentence structure!

Believe it or not, my mother is still fascinated with sentence structure and she still points out my grammatical errors! "Infer" and "imply" seems to be one of her pet peeves. I can't think of any other examples at the moment.

 

[crashbb]

Believe it or not, my mother is still fascinated with sentence structure and she still points out my grammatical errors! "Infer" and "imply" seems to be one of her pet peeves. I can't think of any other examples at the moment.

"Can"/"May" and "May"/""Might" are ones that got my old english teacher going (still do).

 

[FergieTCat]

"Can"/"May" and "May"/""Might" are ones that got my old english teacher going (still do).

I just remembered her latest one:

"Hopefully, it will rain today" is incorrect. It should be "I hope it will rain today." "Hopefully" is an adverb and cannot be used by itself. At least that's what she told me. I asked her if "Optimistically, I bought a lottery ticket." would work, and she said no.

(OP: Sorry to hijack the thread!)

 

[Robinrs]

I find grammer hard! I wish I had a mom who taught grammer to help me! Although, it may seem hard for me because it's been so long since I was in school and really thought about sentence structure!

I have a degree in English and so does my son's best friend's mom! She's HIS English lit teacher this year! He uses and abuses us!

When you have a kid in the 11th grade you are in school EVERY day ... and I graduated in 1973!

I recently took the English SAT over and got ONE QUESTION WRONG! It helps to stay sharp when you have kids!

 

[seven dwarfs]

So he showed up at 12:30 and can you believe the computers were down! So he has been given a new date of June 2. He is so upset. I told him maybe it is a blessing. It gives him 3 more weeks to study. Going to go to the book store tonight and try to find a good study guide. I do feel bad for him. Thanks everyone for all your help!