A speaker implies ("suggests") something; a listener infers (or "deduces").
Examples:
The manager implied that I was a bad risk. I inferred from her remarks that she thought I was lazy.
Corrections:
"You think it's being a pedant to insist on a difference between imply, 'to hint,' and infer, 'to draw a conclusion from'? (Correct: I infer that you are implying I am a pedant.)
Representative Pete King, Republican of New York, noted that White House Counsel Lloyd Cutler testified that nobody at the White House 'ever told him or implied' that the White House was negotiating limits on an investigation. But he charged that Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman's diary 'had that inference.' Wearily, the soon-to-resign Mr. Altman replied: 'One could argue that there is a difference between implied and inferred. I don't know.' He does now."
(William Safire, "Whitewaterese," The New York Times, August 28, 1994)
Practice:
(a) The reporter _____ in her article that an employee started the fire.
(b) I _____ from the article that the police have a suspect.
