- Define and explain Pragmatics in Action in your own words
- Use key terms such as pragmatics accurately
- Apply what you have learned to new examples and questions
- Avoid the common mistakes learners make with this topic
This lesson focuses on Pragmatics in Action: uncover implied meaning, politeness and what is left unsaid.
Uncover implied meaning, politeness and what is left unsaid.
Key ideas
What is unsaid matters
Pragmatics studies implied meaning. If someone says It's cold in here, they usually mean close the window — the intended meaning differs from the literal one. Grice's cooperative principle suggests speakers aim to be informative, truthful, relevant and clear; when writers flout these maxims, irony and implicature are born.
Lexical fields build worlds
Writers cluster related words — a lexical field — to create an atmosphere. A horror passage might draw on darkness, cold, silence and decay, with every word reinforcing the others. Spotting the field lets you describe a text's overall effect in one precise move.
Key term — pragmatics: The study of meaning in context: what speakers intend beyond the literal words, such as hints, politeness and irony.
What is the difference between semantics and pragmatics?
Semantics studies literal meaning; pragmatics studies meaning in context, including what is implied.
Answer: Semantics studies literal meaning; pragmatics studies meaning in context, including what is implied.
- Ignoring the bigger picture Individual word choices matter, but check how they combine: a full commentary links lexis, grammar and pragmatics into one argument.
- Labelling without explaining Naming a semantic field or low modality is not analysis. Always connect the label to its effect on the reader.
Practice
Irony — the intended meaning flouts Grice's maxim of quality, truthfulness.
I, you, here, tomorrow.
You must go.
A group of related words that together create an atmosphere or topic, e.g. dark, cold, silent for fear.
Quick check
Which of these best defines "pragmatics"?
Why might a writer use sentence fragments in a tense scene?
- Pragmatics in Action: uncover implied meaning, politeness and what is left unsaid.
- What is unsaid matters: Pragmatics studies implied meaning.
- semantics: The study of meaning in language — what words and sentences denote, connote and imply.
- Watch out for: ignoring the bigger picture