Syllogism Questions

Syllogism uses the principle of deductive reasoning to come up with conclusions from multiple propositions. Scores of competitive exams like SBI PO, CAT, etc, have an essential section where you will be solving syllogism questions in a limited time. Even if you are a wordsmith, a syllogism can be a complex and perplexing section to comprehend. Practicing consistently is the key to score well in this section. Not only will regular practice help you grasp the inherent concepts of syllogism but it will also enhance your speed and accuracy. In this, there are two core features: two or more statements with two or more conclusions. With the increasing level of difficulty in terms of statements, here is a list of syllogism questions and their answers which you can practice to ace a wide range of entrance exams!

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What is Syllogism?

Derived from the Greek word “Syllogimos“, the word “Syllogism” means inference or conclusion. Syllogism questions include logical arguments or statements and you have to utilize deductive reasoning to infer a certain conclusion. Aristotle is amongst the major figures known for their contributions to syllogisms and one of his popular syllogisms include,

“All men are mortal. Socrates is a man.” – Aristotle

Types of Syllogism Statements

There are three main types of statements given in syllogism questions:

• Major Premise
• Minor Premise
• Conclusion

It is important that you find the common connection between the major premise and minor premise which will help you find the right conclusion.

How to Solve Syllogism Questions?

As explained above, syllogism problems comprise of different arguments and statements and then there are some options from which you have to choose the right inference. These statements are often supposed and illogical but are assumed.

In order to solve syllogism questions, you can use various methods and one of the effective ones includes Venn Diagrams. In the given situation, you can find the right inference or conclusion by drawing all the possible Venn diagrams, and then the common answer that comes from all the Venn diagrams is the right one. Also, you can use the following steps to solve syllogism questions easily:

1. Underline the number of variables given in statements. These variables can be cat, dog, cups, man, colors like green, blue, pink, etc.
2. For every variable, draw a venn diagram while also connecting them with each other the way it has been given in the statement.
3. Deduce the right conclusion after reading the statements again and connecting the diagrams with each other.
4. Find the option that matches the conclusion you have inferred.

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Solve Syllogism Questions with Venn Diagrams

Rules for Syllogism Questions

Syllogism Questions are an important part of competitive exams as well as government exams. Students often skip few topics that are time-consuming or in other case concepts or rules of the topic is not clear. To avoid the risk of scoring low we have listed down the common rules of Syllogism Questions that will help you understand the concepts better:

• All+All equals All.
• All+No equals  No.
• All+Some equals No Conclusion.
• Some+All equals Some.
• Some+Noequals Some Not.
• Some+Some equals No Conclusion.

Rules for Possibility Syllogism Questions

• If All A is B then Some B is Not A is a Possibility.
• If Some B is Not A then All A are B is a Possibility.
• If Some A is B then All A is B is a Possibility & All B are A is a Possibility.
• The conclusion is only correct if it satisfies all possibilities

Types of Syllogism Questions

There are different types of Syllogism Questions asked in the exam. In fact, most of the questions asked in government examinations are also different types of Syllogism questions. Syllogism Questions in the SSC exam belong to a different category and Syllogism questions in IBPS PO are from a different category. To ensure you don’t miss out on any question in your preparation, we have listed all the types of Syllogism Questions:

All A are B

In this type of question, one circle representing A lies within circle B. This states the first section is a subclass of the second section. For Example – A is Dog, B is an animal. Conclusion statements will be:

• Some Dogs are animals
• Some Animals are dogs

No A is B

In this type of question, the first component is not related to the second component. The two circles don’t intersect. The final conclusion statement will be:

• No dogs are animals

Some A are B

These questions are possibility cases. In these types of questions, some components of both circles are similar. The Venn diagram will be two circles overlapping each other. There is no surety with the remaining part of the circles being related. The conclusion statements will be

• All cats are dogs.
• All dogs are cats.
• All cats are dogs and All dogs are cats.

Some A are not B

This is the last type of Syllogism Questions, in this part, the first component has similarities with the second component. The Venn diagram representation will be A having at least some part that is not overlapping the circle representing B while the remaining portion has no surety of other circles.

Solved Examples of Syllogism Questions

Example 1

Minor Assumption: No Sweater is Pencil
Major Assumption: No pencil is cloth

Conclusion: All Sweaters are Cloth
Find out whether this conclusion is correct or not.

Answer:
With the given assumptions, there are 3 possible outcomes: 

Case 1: If no sweater is a pencil, it is clear that no sweater is no cloth as well.
Case 2: There are chances of some sweaters being cloth, thus there is an overlap between them in the given diagram. 
Case 3: There is a possibility to have all clothes as sweaters as there is no combination that contradicts this statement.

As Case 1 and Case 2 do not show any signs to support the conclusion – All Sweaters are Cloths, we will say that the conclusion is incorrect!

Example 2
Minor Assumption: All Students are Engineers
Major Assumptions: All Engineers are Innovative

Conclusions:
1. All innovative are students
2. All students are innovative
3. No innovative are students
4. No engineers are students

As per the 3 possible cases, only option 2 ie All Students are Innovative is correct!

Example 3
Minor Assumption: All right-handed people are Artists
Major Assumption: All Actors are right-handed

Conclusion: Some Artists are Actors
Find out if the conclusion is correct or incorrect.

Answer:
There are only 2 possible cases in this scenario explained in the diagram. Therefore, we can say that the given conclusion is incorrect!

Example 4

Following are the claims:
No Hammer is Ring
All Stones are Hammers
All doors are windows
Some rings are doors

Conclusions:
Some hammers are stones
Some windows are rings

All the possible causes for this syllogism question, are explained in the diagram. As per the diagram only the statement – some windows are rings hold true!

Syllogism Questions & Answers

1). There are two statements in the following question after which there are two conclusions i.e. 1 and 2. You have to assume that the two statements are true and then choose the conclusion (s) that logically follows these statements, regardless of whether they are commonly known statements.

Statements:

1. Some birds are reptiles.
2. Some insects are reptiles.

Conclusions:

1. All insects being reptiles is a possibility.
2. Some reptiles are birds.

Choose the conclusion(s) that follows the above statements.

A. Only Conclusion 1	B. Only Conclusion 2
C. Neither Conclusion 1 nor 2	D. Both 1 & 2

Answer: D. Both 1 & 2
Explanation: The first statement explains that there are some birds that are also reptiles and the second one says that there are some insects that are reptiles. So, this leads us to the possibility of some birds also being reptiles and since some reptiles are birds it can also be inferred by reversing the Ist statement that there are some reptiles that are birds.

2). There are three statements in the following question after which there are three conclusions, i.e. 1, 2, and 3. You have to assume that the three statements are true regardless of whether they are commonly known statements or not and then choose the conclusion (s) that logically follows these statements.

Statements:

1. Some bottles are cups.
2. All cups are glasses.
3. All glasses are saucers.

Conclusions:

1. Some bottles are glasses.
2. Some glasses are bottles.
3. All cups are saucers.

Choose the conclusion(s) that follows the above statements.

A. All	B. Only 1, 2
C. Only 2, 3	D. None of These

Answer: A

3) There are four statements in the following question after which there are three conclusions, i.e. 1, 2, 3, and 4. You have to assume that the four statements are true regardless of whether they are commonly known statements or not and then choose the conclusion (s) that logically follows these statements.

Statements:

1. Some orange is yellow
2. Some yellow are green
3. All green is blue
4. No blue is black

Conclusions:

1. No black is green.
2. Some yellow is blue.
3. Some black is orange.
4. No black is orange.

Choose the conclusion(s) that following the statements.

A. Only 1 and 2	B. Either 3 or 4
C. Only 1 & Either 3 or 4	D. None of the Above

Answer: A [No black is green and some yellow are blue]

4) There are three statements in the following question after which there are four conclusions, i.e. 1, 2, 3, and 4. You have to assume that the statements are true regardless of whether they are commonly known statements or not and then choose the conclusion (s) that logically follows these statements.

Statements:

1. Some Nests are Kites
2. All Kites are Pots
3. All Pots are Chips
4. Some Chips are Buses

Conclusions:

1. Some Buses are Kites
2. Some Chips are Nests
3. No Bus is a KIte
4. Some Chips are Kites

A. Only 2, 3, and 4	B. Only Either 1 or 3 and 2 and 4
C. Only Either 1 or 4 and 2 follow	D. Only 1, 2, and 4

Answer: B

5) There are three statements in the following question after which there are four conclusions, i.e. 1, 2, 3, and 4. You have to assume that the statements are true regardless of whether they are commonly known statements or not and then choose the conclusion (s) that logically follows these statements.

A. All of the Above	B. Only 3
C. Only 1 and 2	D. None of the Above

Answer: C

Exploring Syllogism questions? Check out our guide on How to Prepare for Competitive Exams?

6) Choose the correct option for statements given.

Statements:

1. No Lion is an Elephant
2. All Elephants are Kangaroos
3. All Kangaroos are Giraffes

Conclusions:

1. All Kangaroos can’t be Lions
2. All Lions are Giraffes

A. If Both Conclusion 1 and 2 follow	B. If Only 2 Follows
C. If Either 1 or 2 Follow	D. If Only Conclusion 1 Follows

Answer: D

7) Choose the correct option for statements given.

Statements:

1. All Pens are Pencils
2. Some Pencils are Erasers

Conclusions:

1. No Eraser is a Pen
2. At least Some Erasers are Pencils

A. If Only Conclusion 1 Follows	B. If Only Conclusion 2 Follows
C. Neither of the Above	D. If Either Conclusion 1 or 2 Follow

Answer: B

8) Two assertions are presented in the question, followed by two conclusions, I and II. You must accept the assertions as true, even if they appear to contradict generally held beliefs. You must decide which, if any, of the provided inferences derives from the supplied assertions.

Statements:

1. All clocks are watches.
2. Some clocks are alarms.

Conclusions:

1. Some alarms are watches.
2. All watches are alarm.

Choose the conclusion(s) that follows the above statements.

A. Only Conclusion 1 follows	B. Only Conclusion 2 follows
C. Neither Conclusion 1 nor 2	D. Both 1 & 2

Answer: A. Only Conclusion 1 follows 
Explanation: The first statement explains that all clocks are watches and the second one says that some clocks are alarms. So, this leads us to the possibility of some alarms are watches too, if we draw a Venn diagram. Hence the correct answer is A. 

9) Two assertions are presented in the question, followed by two conclusions, I and II. You must accept the assertions as true, even if they appear to contradict generally held beliefs. You must decide which, if any, of the provided inferences derives from the supplied assertions.

Statements:

1. Some pens are glass.
2. All glass are walls.

Conclusions:

1. Some walls are pens.
2. Some walls are glass.

Choose the conclusion(s) that follows the above statements.

A. Only Conclusion 1 follows	B. Only Conclusion 2 follows
C. Neither Conclusion 1 nor 2	D. Both 1 & 2 follows

Answer: D. Both 1 & 2 follows 
Explanation: The first statement explains that some pens are glass and the second one says that all glass are walls. So, this leads us to the possibility that some walls are pens and some are glass. With the help of a Venn diagram, we can easily identify that the correct answer is D. 

10) Two assertions are presented in the question, followed by two conclusions, I and II. You must accept the assertions as true, even if they appear to contradict generally held beliefs. You must decide which, if any, of the provided inferences derives from the supplied assertions.

Statements:

1. No cities are countries.
2. No countries are villages.

Conclusions:

1. Some countries are cities.
2. No villages are cities.

Choose the conclusion(s) that follows the above statements.

A. Only Conclusion 1 follows	B. Only Conclusion 2 follows
C. Neither Conclusion 1 nor 2 follows	D. Both 1 & 2 follows

Answer: C. Neither Conclusion 1 nor 2 follows
Explanation: The first statement explains that no cities are countries and the second one says that no countries are villages. The given conclusion states that some countries are cities and that no villages are cities. So, neither conclusion 1 nor conclusion 2 follows, and with the help of a Venn diagram, we can easily identify that the correct answer is C. 

Assignment on Syllogism Questions 

Each of the following questions has a few assertions followed by two conclusions. You must accept the provided claims as true, even if they appear to contradict generally known truths. Read all of the conclusions and then evaluate which ones logically follow from the provided statements while ignoring widely known facts.

1. 

Statements:

1. All cups are pencils.
2. Some pencils are pens.

Conclusions:

1. Some pencils are cups.
2. No pencils are cups.
3. Some cups are pens.

Choose the conclusion(s) that follows the above statements.

A. Only Conclusion 1 follows	B. Only Conclusion 3 follows
C. Only conclusions 1 and 2 follows	D. All the conclusions follow

2. 

Statements:

1. All fruits are leaves.
2. Some fruits are grapes.

Conclusions:

1. Some leaves are grapes.
2. All grapes are fruits

Choose the conclusion(s) that follows the above statements.

A. Only Conclusion 1 follows	B. Only Conclusion 2 follows
C. Neither conclusion 1 nor conclusion 2 follows	D. Both conclusions 1 and 2 follow

3. 

Statements:

1. All apples are bananas.
2. No banana is a mango.
3. Some mangoes are oranges.

Conclusions:

1. Some mangoes are apples.
2. All oranges can never be bananas.

Choose the conclusion(s) that follows the above statements.

A. Only Conclusion 1 follows	B. Only Conclusion 2 follows
C. Neither conclusion 1 nor conclusion 2 follows	D. Both conclusions 1 and 2 follow

4. 

Statements:

1. All teachers are sir.
2. No teacher is a student.
3. Some students are weak.

Conclusions:

1. All weak being teacher is a possibility.
2. All weak being sir is a possibility.

Choose the conclusion(s) that follows the above statements.

A. Only Conclusion 1 follows	B. Only Conclusion 2 follows
C. Neither conclusion 1 nor conclusion 2 follows	D. Both conclusions 1 and 2 follow

5. 

Statements:

1. All apartments are huts.
2. No hut is a building.
3. All buildings are cottages.

Conclusions:

1. No apartment is a cottage.
2. Some buildings being apartments is a possibility.

Choose the conclusion(s) that follows the above statements.

A. Only Conclusion 1 follows	B. Only Conclusion 2 follows
C. Neither conclusion 1 nor conclusion 2 follows	D. Both conclusions 1 and 2 follow

6.

Statements:

1. All books are diaries.
2. Some diaries are notebooks.
3. All notebooks are notepads

Conclusions:

1. Some notepads are diaries.
2. Some notepads are books.

Choose the conclusion(s) that follows the above statements.

A. Only Conclusion 1 follows	B. Only Conclusion 2 follows
C. Neither conclusion 1 nor conclusion 2 follows	D. Both conclusions 1 and 2 follow

7. 

Statements:

1. All books are diaries.
2. All laptops are computers.
3. All tablets are palmtop.

Conclusions:

1. All palmtops are laptops
2. At least some computers are palmtop.
3. All laptops are not mobiles.
4. All mobiles being computers is a possibility.

Choose the conclusion(s) that follows the above statements.

A. Only Conclusion 1 follows	B. Both conclusions 2 and 4 follow
C. Only conclusion 4 follow	D. Only conclusion 3 follow
E. Only conclusion 2 follow

8. 

Statements:

1. All vegetables are fruits
2. Some sweets are fruits

Conclusions:

1. All vegetables are sweets
2. All sweets are vegetables
3. Some fruits are sweets

Choose the conclusion(s) that follows the above statements.

A. Only Conclusion 2 follows	B. Either conclusions 3 and 1 follow
C. Both conclusions 1 and 2 follow	D. Either conclusion 1 or 2 follow
E. None of the above

9. 

Statements:

3. All the white are grey.
4. All the black are grey.
5. Some purple are black.

Conclusions:

4. Some white is black.
5. Some grey is white.
6. Some grey is purple.

Choose the conclusion(s) that follows the above statements.

A. Only Conclusion 2 follows	B. Either conclusions 3 and 1 follow
C. Both conclusions 1 and 2 follow	D. Either conclusion 1 or 2 follow
E. None of the above

10. 

Statements:

1. All pillows are cushions
2. Some cushions are bedsheet
3. All bedsheets are blankets
4. Some blankets are table covers.

Conclusions:

1. Some blankets are cushions.
2. Some blankets are pillows.
3. Some table covers are cushions.

Choose the conclusion(s) that follows the above statements.

A. Only Conclusion 1 follows	B. Only Conclusion 2 follows
C. Only conclusion 3 follow	D. Both conclusions 1 or 2 follow
E. Both conclusions 1 or 3 follow

Syllogism Questions Assignment PDF

Syllogism Questions: Helpful Tricks & Techniques

Syllogisms test your deductive reasoning and there are some tricks that will allow you to simplify statements and conclusions. The core technique lies in connecting one statement with another and verifying the statements mentioned in the conclusion. Listed below are some helpful tricks and techniques for solving syllogism questions for competitive exams:

• Create Venn diagrams to easily segregate one statement from another.

• Explore all the possibilities in statements that include ‘all’ and ‘no’. If there is a statement that says “All white is black. Some pink is white.” This statement is filled with possibilities that some pink can be black or some black can be white. In questions like these, you need to consider all these possibilities before coming to conclusions.

• Syllogism questions with “some” and “all” can be confusing. Try understanding the difference that if some A is B, it doesn’t mean that all A is B or all B is A. If all C is D, it doesn’t imply that all D is C.

• Remember to solve a syllogism problem in a sequential manner. If you directly assume the third statement after the first it will result in causing confusion because you missed out on the second statement which might be the connection between the first and the third statement.

• Find a common relationship between statements and conclusions. A major aspect of syllogism questions in competitive exams is that they always create a connection between one statement and another. Start with reading every statement carefully and then building a common relationship to locate the right conclusions.

Books for Syllogism Questions 

Syllogism Questions are quite confusing and tricky and initially applicants take more time in solving Syllogism Questions. With daily practice, you will be able to understand the topic better and also able to solve questions in such a shorter time. Here are the best books for Syllogism Questions for revision and practice:

A New Approach to Logical Reasoning by Arihant Publication	Buy Here
Verbal Reasoning by RS Aggarwal	Buy Here
SSC Reasoning Chapter wise by S.N. Prasad	Buy Here
A New Approach to Reasoning Verbal and Non-verbal by Arihant publication	Buy Here
Reasoning Syllogism by Vanik Experts	Buy Here
Logical Reasoning for IBPS PO 2021 | SBI PO | RBI and Other Banking Exams	Buy Here
400+ Syllogism MCQs for IBPS/SBI Bank PO/Clerk Prelim & Main Exams	Buy Here
SYLLOGISM (600+ MCQ) – Bank Exams Reasoning: Must for Bank PO/Clerk – IBPS/SBI/RRB/RBI/NABARD	Buy Here

FAQs

Thus, facts don’t exist in the world of syllogism but deductive reasoning does. The faster you begin grasping the conclusive quality of these questions you will be nailing syllogism questions for competitive exams. Seeking admission to colleges abroad can seem daunting, you don’t need to take that stress by yourself. Let the experts at Leverage Edu help you in acing your exams and finding a place in the hallways of your dream college.