Cooperative principle

Make your contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.

    Maxims of quality

    Try to make your contribution one that is true; specifically:

  1. do not say what you believe to be false;
  2. do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.
  3. Maxims of quantity

  4. Make your contribution as informative as is required for the current purposes of the exchange;
  5. do not make your contribution more informative than is required.
  6. Maxim of relation

  7. Make your contribution relevant.
  8. Maxims of manner

    Be perspicuous, and specifically:

  9. avoid obscurity;
  10. avoid ambiguity;
  11. be brief;
  12. be orderly.