2.4 The four conversational maxims
The co-operative principle includes four conversational maxims, as suggested by Grice. The
first maxim is the Maxim of Quantity, which says “Make your contribution as informative as
is required” (Thomas 1995:63) and “Do not make your contribution more informative than is
required” (Thomas 1995:63). The second maxim is the Maxim of Quality, which states that
the person making an utterance should not say something that they do not believe to be true
or for which they lack adequate evidence. The third maxim is the Maxim of Relation, which
states that the utterance should be relevant. The fourth maxim, finally, is the Maxim of
Manner, which states that the utterance should be “brief, be orderly, avoid ambiguity and
avoid obscurity of expression” (Thomas 1995:63). If all of the maxims are being observed,
there will be no additional set of meaning added to the conversation (Thomas 1995:64).