Implicature is a technical term in the pragmatics linguistics, coined by H. P. Grice, which refers to what is suggested in an utterance, even though neither expressed nor strictly implied (that is, entailed) by the utterance. Generally, there are three types of implicatures.

Conversational implicatures are implicatures that arise during conversation, where the speaker voluntarily flouts, or violates, one of maxims in the maxims of conversation that create an implied meaning to the addressee. These conversational implicatures have many uses in creating an additional meaning to a given utterance. For example：

“So where do you want to eat? Applebee's has a huge selection of burgers, appetizers, salads, and drinks! Everything is super affordable, too.”

As seen here, this utterance flouts the maxim of quantity because of the extra amount of information given about the types of options and pricing. Giving examples about the types of options at the restaurant and mentioning their prices gives much more information than needed in reference to a name of a restaurant. Also, this example flouts the maxim of relevance because the name of a restaurant is not directly relevant to a list of food items and prices.

“Who's driving?”

“Well, my car only fits three people.”

In this context, the addressee is flouting the maxim of relevance, because the question of who is driving is not directly related to the number of people that someone's car can fit. Also, the use of only is a quantity maxim that semantically flouts that there are a maximum number of people that can fit in the car; and, that the number of people present exceeds this limit.

Scalar implicatures are implicatures that have both a semantic and pragmatic use in language. These types of implicatures are types of quantity maxims. Some of these implicatures include “some”, “few”, and “many”. The implicature itself has a meaning and social use that imply something about an object. For example:

“John ate some of the cookies.”

Here, the use of some semantically implies that more than one cookie was eaten. Consequently, some pragmatically implies that not every cookie was eaten, but more than one was.

The use of these implicatures flout to the addressee that semantically, a nonspecific amount exists in the utterance; and, pragmatically, that the quantity is defined in a certain interval of large or small.

Conventional implicature is independent of the cooperative principle and its four maxims. A statement always carries its conventional implicature. For example：

“Donovan is poor but happy.”

his sentence implies poverty and happiness are not compatible but in spite of this Donovan is still happy. The conventional interpretation of the word “but” will always create the implicature of a sense of contrast. So Donovan is poor but happy will always necessarily imply “Surprisingly Donovan is happy in spite of being poor”.