Differences between Conclusion, Inference and Assumption

This is one of the most confusing topics of English section. In Critical Reasoning (CR) questions you will be given a few statements and then you will be asked to either draw a conclusion or inference based on them, or tell what assumptions the writer had while writing those statements.

These questions appear in Reading Comprehension (RC) sets too, where you have to draw a conclusion or inference based on the passage, or tell what assumptions the writer had while writing that passage.

The more you read about the differences between Conclusion, Inference and Assumption, the more you tend to get confused. Because everyone’s saying different things. Even teachers vary on their definition. Some say conclusion and inference are the same, as per some crux of the passage (or critical message of the passage) is the same as conclusion, but as per some there is a minute difference.

Most of the confusion is regarding the differences in meaning of Conclusion, Inference and the Crux/Critical Message. Assumptions are totally different from these.

To add on to the confusion, even different exams take different approaches on these.

In this article, our aim is to clear all the doubts related to the meaning and differences in the meanings of Conclusion, Inference and Assumption. We will also discuss about some other concepts like - Implication, Imply, Corallary etc.

But as a word of caution, we must add that if you are appearing for a certain aptitude exam, do have a look at its previous year papers and their official answer key. See what that exam’s stand is on the differences between these terms.

Though our focus in this article will be on RC, but the concepts we discuss are also applicable in Statement-Conclusion, Statement-Inference, Statement-Assumption type of critical reasoning questions.

Important Keywords in RC Questions

In many RC questions you will find these keywords - Conclusion, Inference, Crux/Critical Message, Assumption etc (they are often given in bold in the exam paper). It’s essential that you understand the meanings of these keywords.

Conclusion

Conclusion is something (position/opinion/judgement) that we deduce based on hard facts, evidences and our observation of the situation in the given passage.

The information (facts, evidences and arguments) given in the passage, i.e. the statements of the passage are called the Premise.

They must be logically derived from the given statements, i.e. to drive a conclusion we only use the information provided in the passage (no outside knowledge). So, conclusions are always accurate, and logical. A conclusion is always provided by the author in the passage, directly or indirectly, i.e. it’s inbuilt in the passage.

We can say that a conclusion is the logical output or result of all the information provided in the passage, i.e. to draw a conclusion we need to take into account the whole passage. So, a conclusion is the main point of the passage, kind of a super-short summary.

Let’s see an example:

Say, I have an exam tomorrow that I have been preparing for a long time, but I don’t have any pen to write the exam. Then we can conclude that I will either buy or borrow a pen. We “concluded” that I have to buy/borrow a pen, as the given situation dictates so.

To identify a conclusion, you may adopt two methods:

Some words give us a hint that the writer is concluding something, e.g. hence, so, therefore, etc.
Ask the question ‘Why?’ after a conclusion. You should get its answer in the given passage.

Inference

Inference, just like conclusions, are derived using facts, evidences and observation, i.e. we deduce it using the given situation in a passage. But we also use our prior knowledge, experience and learning to drive an inference (i.e. we use not only the information that has been provided in the passage, but our inherent knowledge too).

That’s why, inferences may be accurate or inaccurate, justified or unjustified, logical or illogical.

Let’s see an example:

If a stray dog runs towards you with his teeth out, growling and barking, then you would probably infer that, that dog is about to attack you. You “inferrred” the given situation based on your observation and past experience. It may or may not be true. To deduce the correct inference, you will need more information.

Conclusion Vs. Inference

As per some experts, “unlike conclusions, that are logically derived, inferences are more in the nature of educated guess”.

But the term “educated guess” is rather a misnomer here, because even inferences are also derived based on logic (just like conclusions). It’s just that inferences are never explicitly mentioned in a passage, so we have to apply a lot of our deduction capability to drive an inference. Also, as we use our prior knowledge and experience to drive an inference it gives it a quality of “guess”.

In contrast, a conclusion is drawn only on the basis of hard facts and observations mentioned in the passage, i.e. it’s basically a summation of the facts/information given in the passage.

Moreover, a major difference between the two is that a conclusion is the final output or result of the passage. So, you need all the information provided in the passage to draw a conclusion. On the other hand, an inference may be taken out from a line or two of the passage, or even the whole passage. Say there are 3 statements in a passage - A, B, and C.

A, B, C + logic → Conclusion.
A + logic → Inference. For example, if statement A says: x implies y and y implies z. Then it can be inferred that x implies z.
A, B, C + logic → Conclusion → Inference. We can also draw inference from the whole passage, or in other words from the conclusion of a passage.
For example, If based on the information given in the passage we conclude that there is a competition going on between Canada, USA, Russia and some north European countries over Arctic region, then from this we can infer that it’s probably because of the gas reserves, or we may infer that it may be because of the new territory that is being exposed due to melting polar ice etc. (But to tell the correct inference we will need more information from the passage.)

An inference can never be a direct line from the given passage. It should rather follow from the given facts/evidences/statements. So, you will have to “read between the lines”.

An inference is not a restatement of any of the information/statements. E.g. if the statement is: ‘Mragank is intelligent’, the inference cannot be: ‘Mragank is not dumb’. (However, a conclusion may a restatement of any of the information/statements given in the passage.)

As per many writers, the difference between Conclusion and Inference is so minute, that they are practically interchangeable. So, another way to look at the difference between a conclusion and an inference is that:

Conclusions are specific in nature.
Inferences are the same as conclusions, but written in a generic way.

For example:

Statements: India has fought many wars with Pakistan and China. There are frequent skirmishes and tension even now on India’s northern borders. The exact border line is often challenged by the parties involved. Lack of properly demarcated border is also an issue with Bangladesh.

Conclusion: Relations between India-Pakistan and India-China are probably not good. Or India-Pakistan and India-China are enemies, at least on the military front. (specific)

Inference: Unclear borders may lead to unhealthy relationships with neighbours. (generic)

Whether Inference will mean the same thing as a Conclusion also depends on the way a RC question is framed.

For example, say a passage is given and then the following questions are asked:

Which of the following statements can you infer from the passage?
Which of the following statements can you conclude from the passage?

These two will probably mean the same thing, as we have to take into account the whole passage.

But an inference question may also be constructed as follows:

What inference can you draw from the line " ——-” ?

Imply Vs. Inference

To imply - It means that something is hinted or suggested by the author. It is not said directly.
To infer - It means to deduce from the given facts/evidence using reasoning.

‘To imply’ is more assertive (i.e. it has a more active tone), than ‘drawing inference’. When an author implies something then he’s giving you hidden/indirect hints, rather than stating something explicitly. While an inference is something you understand/deduce after you apply some logic to the given facts/evidence.

So, an author implies (give hidden messages) and the reader infers (read between the lines). A person who implies is giving information, while a person who infers is receiving information.

For example: “When his boss said that there are going to be some expenditure cuts in coming months, he just implied that some useless expenses will be reduced, however Mak inferred it as a sign of impending layoffs.”

If you encounter a RC question, which asks you - “What does the author implies by this and that ….”, it just means you need to tell what the author “means” by those lines/words. What’s the hidden message.

Assumptions

Assumptions are something that we have already learnt, or experienced and do not question. They may be a part of our beliefs and we may interpret everything else assuming our beliefs to be true. So, they are kind of a prism through which we see the world around us. Same is true for an author who writes a RC passage.

For example, a leftist person will try to find economic causes for all the problems in the world, while a religious person may assume that everything happens due to the ‘will’ of the God.

While we make conclusions and inferences based on facts, evidences or observations; assumptions are things that we presume/presuppose and take for granted. There may be no fact, observation or evidence backing up the assumptions. So, assumptions may be justified or unjustified, logical or illogical.

For example, if you see anyone sad, you can infer that the person must be having problems in his life. You have inferred it using your observation, by seeing the gloom on his face. However, if you think that he must be said because of financial issues or relationship issues, then this is your assumption. Probably because you have had been sad or depressed due to these reasons in the past, and so you believe that the other person may also be sad because of the same reasons. You cannot tell the reason of someone’s sadness by just observing his face.

Many times, you will find that a writer has some assumptions and then he provides some evidences/facts, and based on that a conclusion or inference is drawn. So, an assumption may be the link between the evidences provided and the conclusions/inferences drawn.

That is, Assumption + Facts/Evidences = Conclusion/Inference

So, assumption is the base, using which a writer writes a passage and gives his critical message. Then using that information provided in the passage, we draw conclusions and inferences.

In summary, we can say that:

Inference/Conclusion is drawn (understood) by the reader.
Assumption is something that was kept in mind (taken into consideration) by the author when he wrote that passage.

Sometimes, the question will not mention the words conclusion, inference or assumption explicitly. But you can sense them by the language of the question.

If the statements above are true (or the information provided in the passage is true), which of the following statements must be true? (Inference/Conclusion)
The above information supports which of the following assertions? (Inference/Conclusion)
Select the belief-system on which the argument provided in the passage depends? (Assumption)

Critical Message / Crux

This is simple. The crux of a passage is the main idea that the author is trying to convey. It is the most critical or the most crucial message that the author is trying to convey.

Crux

As per dictionary, crux - the most important or difficult part of a problem.

While to draw a conclusion, we use all the information provided in the passage, to find the critical message we ignore all the other minor points and focus only on the most significant point, that is the backbone of the argument/passage.

Neither conclusion, nor inference is explicitly mentioned in the passage. We drive both using the information provided in the passage. But the critical message of a passage is often explicitly mentioned in the passage, directly or indirectly.

Conclusion Vs. Critical Message / Crux

In layman’s terms we can say that, the critical or main message of a passage is a conclusion that has been explicitly mentioned by the author himself. So, we are not required to draw a conclusion based on the information and arguments provided by the author. We just have to tell the message that the author is giving.

Many writers consider conclusion and crux as the same thing. But in this article, we differentiate between the two:

Conclusion is the main point or essence of the passage, but it is implicit. We have to draw a conclusion based on the information provided in the passage. (Inference can be anything that we derive using some part or all of the passage.)
Critical message/Crux is the main point or essence of the passage that has been explicitly stated by the author. You just need to identify the conclusion/crux, and ignore the rest of the minor points.

In short, you need to distinguish between questions that want you to draw a conclusion (conclude something yourself) and questions that ask you to identify the conclusion (simply identify what the author is getting at). In the former case, you may need to apply some logic to get to the conclusion, i.e. it should be logically valid. In the latter case, you’re simply describing the author’s opinion, and this opinion does not have to be valid.

So, if you read somewhere that conclusion can be implicit or explicit, don’t get confused. We are just calling the ‘explicitly mentioned conclusions’ as ‘crux’ of the passage.

In Critical reasoning (CR), the conclusion will be explicitly stated in the argument/passage. In a Reading Comprehension (RC) passage, the main point/conclusion may not be stated precisely, but should be a distillation/summary of the author’s message across the passage.

Implication

It’s more in the nature of cause-effect. So, the cause or some situation or some problem will be described in the passage, and you will be asked to tell its effect/result. The effect can also be in the nature of the steps that you will take to solve the given problem.

If you are asked to provide the best practical implication(s), it means you are supposed to provide solution(s)/suggestion(s) to the problem/challenge stated in the passage.

Say, there have been excessive rain in some region (cause), then it’s immediate implication will be that there might be floods. However, it’s practical implication (in the form of suggestion) will be to build dams, take measures to mitigate the impact of floods etc.

Here, the focus is more on the future - The effects will be felt in the future. Similarly, any suggestions will only be implemented in the future.

Corollary

Corollary may be defined in two ways:

It may mean result - It is a noun, which means ‘a situation, a statement or a fact that is the natural and direct result/consequence of another one’. The result or effect will be on right now basis, i.e. in the present and not something that will happen in future.
It may mean an alternative - A corollary is defined as an idea formed from something that is already proved. It’s just a way of saying the same thing in another way. Or achieving the same goals in a different manner, i.e. alternate method.

In Math, the word corollary is used more formally to describe a new proof or proposition that follows naturally from an established one. If a + b = c, then an example of a corollary is that c - b = a.

For example: Getting that cracked door fixed was a nice corollary of redoing the whole house. (here corollary = alternative method)

My renewed love of books is a corollary to the recent arrival of a book store in my neighbourhood. (here corollary = direct and natural result)

If the passage says - “Global trade negotiations are now eyeing the digital area in an attempt to pre-emptively colonise it. Big Data is freely collected or mined from developing countries like India, and converted into digital intelligence in developed countries.”

So, a situation has been described in this passage. The most logical and rational corollary to the above passage (i.e. it’s result), will be that - “India should be careful to protect its digital sovereignty in global trade talks.”

As per the passage, global trade negotiations are trying to colonise digital data, i.e. author is highlighting the risk involved. So, its result would be that India will be more careful in such negotiations. (here corollary = direct and natural result)

Winding Up

We hope that this article was useful. If it was overwhelming, take a break and re-read the article again. Solve some questions. Apply these concepts.

However, do not over stress yourself. In majority of the questions, you will be able to answer the question correctly even if you do not fully understand the meaning of these terms, say the difference between conclusion and crux or conclusion and inference. Your common sense will be enough. It’s only is some cases that we are required to have a solid grasp on their intricacies.

In case of any doubt, do leave us a comment down below.

Extra Books and Tools

If you prefer to learn via books, or want some good English Grammar books for reference purposes, you may read this article which enlists some of the books recommended by us.

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Last updated on Apr 8, 2023