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Syllogism: Examples, Definition, Rules, How to solve tricks & pdf download

When it comes to preparing for banking and IBPS-SBI exams, Syllogism reasoning is a very important section. Good preparation can help you score higher in competitive exams. You should have a basic understanding to solve syllogism questions. Quantitative aptitude and reasoning are the two most important parts of all sections that are hard to crack for most candidates. Generally, bank exams have 3 to 5 questions related to the syllogism. This section can be scoring if you know how to do it right.

syllogism examples tricks and rules pdf

What is Syllogism?

The syllogism is a type of logical challenge which demands deductive reasoning to find the conclusion according to two or more propositions (or premises) which are assumed or asserted to be true. The conclusion states no more than what is normally included in the premises. The syllogism is invalid if it is done.

The major problem to solve such types of tricky questions is that they take a lot of time to solve. So, you have to save enough of time for this section. You have to make a right strategy to restore your sectional cutoffs. The syllogism is the section that can make the difference between a rejected and selected candidate. Here, we are going to discuss some of the easiest tricks to solve these questions.

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Syllogism Examples

Types of Propositions (Premises)

The premise is actually a statement which generally includes two different terms – a predicate and subject – that is linked by a relation.

  • Predicates covers something related to subject
  • Subject is the matter on which something is said

If next premise has one of the above common terms, the relation between non-common terms will be deduced.

In reasoning aptitude tests, syllogism is a very important section which covers few important questions. Here, we will show you the tricks to solve the questions quickly and easily. We have got some shortcut tricks covered to help you solve syllogism questions. We understand that time matters most in every exam. You have to finish the exam within the deadline. The competitive exams are held to test your calculation ability in the stipulated timeframe. They test your speed to complete the question paper. Several students are failed to complete their paper because of complex syllogism questions. It will help you solve the government, bank or other exam papers quickly.

Here, we are sharing some of the easiest syllogism shortcut tricks that you should learn properly. Learn every chapter and topic and download syllogism rules with examples PDF. You may opt for syllogism questions and answers PDF download. Then you can practice and solve these questions yourself by following these tricks. This way, you can compare the results with or without using syllogism tricks. Go through our notes to succeed in the exam.

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How to Solve Syllogism Questions?

The syllogism is a very important chapter you should learn when preparing for verbal reasoning. It develops logical part of your brain. It is asked in exams RRB, MAT, CAT and others. These questions check the logical ability of candidates. Generally, Venn diagram is used to solve such type of questions. These questions have statements in which one is possibility case, and another is definitive case as a conclusion. A simple Venn diagram can help you find the conclusion.

But sometimes, we don’t have papers to draw Venn diagram. This way, you can use certain formulas to solve the questions within few minutes. These formulas are used to solve the syllogism’s possibility cases.

Syllogism Examples

  1. Statements
  • All branches of trees are fruits
  • All trees are flowers
  • No flower is supposed to be fruit

Conclusions

  1. Some branches are trees
  2. No fruit is tree
  3. No tree is branch

Which Conclusion should follow?

  1. None of them
  2. Only 2
  3. Only either 1 or 3
  4. 2 or either 1 or 3
  5. None of the above
  1. Statements
  • All A are considered B
  • Some B not C

Conclusions

  1. All A are C
  2. Some A not C

Choose from the following conclusions

  • None
  • Only either 1 or 2
  • Only 2
  • None of the above

Here’s another

  1. Statement
  • All A are B
  • Some B not C

Conclusions

  1. No A is C
  2. Some A are not C

Choose one of these conclusions

  • None
  • None of these
  • Only 2
  • Only either 1 or 2

Syllogism Formula

The recent questions have three statements. You have to draw Venn diagram for each question. But it is very hectic when you have up to 40 syllogisms. You have to solve all of them with just one shortcut. Once you learn all the formulas, you can easily solve all kinds of complex syllogisms. These reasoning questions are common in all kinds of placement and competitive exams. This way, we start with a basic formula –

  1. “All + All=All.”

Statements

All A are B

+

All B are C

Conclusion – All A are C

Now you might be wondering which of the conclusion to follow if you have more than one. In order to choose the conclusion by just checking the statements, you can use this shortcut.

Take 3 terms – A, B, and C

Keep in mind that B is common in both statements so it must be middle

So, B is directly canceled and we conclude All A are C.

  1. Some + All = Some

 

Statements

Some A are B

+

All B are C

In order to choose the conclusion to follow, use this method –

  • Observe three terms – A, B and C
  • B is common. So, keep it in middle
  • Hence, Some A are C

Likewise, follow these formulas to excel in syllogisms

  1. SOME + NO = SOME NOT
  2. SOME + SOME = NO CONCLUSION
  3. ALL + SOME = NO CONCLUSION
  4. NO+ALL = SOME IS NOT RESERVED
  5. ALL + NO = NO
  6. NO + NO = NO CONCLUSION

Here are the Syllogism Examples

Example 1

Some Bats are Not Cats

Conclusions

  • All bats are not cats
  • Some bats are cats
  • All cats are not bats
  • All cats are not bats, and all bats are not cats

According to the rule

  • All + All = All
  • All + Some = No conclusion
  • All + No = No
  • Some + All = Some
  • Some + No = Some Not
  • Some + Some = No Conclusion

Here are the possibility cases you need to follow the above rules

  • In case All A are B – Possibility is Some B are not A
  • In case Some A are B – Possibility is All A are B, and All B are A
  • In case Some B are not A – Possibility is All A are B

In possibility cases, the most basic part is that all possibilities should be created to find out whether the conclusion given is possible. If all the possibilities are matched with the given conclusion, it is definitely the correct choice.

Example 2

All Ships are Planes

All Cars are Bikes

Some Bikes are Ships

  • Some bikes are cars
  • Possibility – all planes are cars
  • At least some airplanes are bikes

A conclusion states that the possibility is all planes are cars. It doesn’t mean it is true. Even though a single case is taken where all airplanes are cars the conclusion might be –

  • If all A are B and some A are B, it is true to state that “some A are B at least”
  • A conclusion which has words like “possibility” or “possible” is true, if it stands true for any of these scenarios.

Example 3

Some laptops are phones.

Some cameras are laptops

Some phones are tablets

Conclusions

  • Possibility – All tablets may be laptops
  • Some tablets are cameras at least
  • No tablet is laptop

It seems that conclusion III, i.e. no tablet is a laptop, should follow. But there is a possibility that all tablets are laptops. So, conclusion III doesn’t make sense. Hence either conclusion I or conclusion III follows.

Example 4

All cows are yellows

Some reds are cows

All yellows are rabbits

Conclusions

  1. Some yellows are red
  2. All cows are rabbits
  3. Some reds are rabbits

Try all the cases possible if there is a conclusion. Be sure if any of these cases are true. To improve your accuracy and speed, you may solve this example yourself.

Tips & Tricks to Solve Syllogism Problems

  • Check all the statements one after another
  • Find out how you can draw Venn diagrams for each statement
  • Find out how to analyze the conclusion with each statement
  • Understand the pattern of question
  • Last but not the least – Attempt question in sequence

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Conclusion

We hope that the above examples and formulas will help you in preparation for SBI bank exams and reasoning tests. Syllogism reasoning is a very scoring part of competitive exams. You may try syllogism tricks in Hindi to solve these examples.

About the author

Atish Ranjan

Hi there, I am Atish Ranjan! I have been into work and business for more than 11 years now; I have given and taken numerous interviews over the years.
Thus, I started TheInterview.top to share my knowledge & experience with you! Hope you enjoy reading here.

About the Author

Hi there, I am Atish Ranjan! I have been into work and business for more than 11 years now; I have given and taken numerous interviews over the years. Thus, I started TheInterview.top to share my knowledge & experience with you! Hope you enjoy reading here.