The Reasoning section of government jobs exams like IBPS, SBI, SSC, Railways etc includes many important topics. Some of them are Analogy, Number Series, Coding Decoding, Relationship Concepts, Non Verbal Reasoning, Arithmetic Reasoning, Syllogism, Statement Conclusion etc.
Syllogisms, also known as Syllogistic Reasoning is one of the most important topics of reasoning section of these prsetigious examinations. This topic generally has a high weightage in the exams that ultimately implies more marks. But these questions are generally not that easy to attempt.If that was the case everybody would be more than happy to attempt these questions. The real hindrance to solving these type of questions is that it consumes a whole lot of time; thus sparing only a fraction of time for other questions of that section. If done using a right strategy, Syllogism can make or break your sectional cutoffs and in turn final scores also which may ultimately be the difference between the selected and the not selected candidate.In this post we will discuss about some handy tips and tricks to solve these Syllogism Questions.So let us take first things first ie first we should know what actually are Syllogism based questions.
What are Syllogism Based Questions?
Syllogism comes under the Verbal Reasoning Section and is a very important topic which is frequently asked in almost all the competitive exams. These types of questions are very simply framed. They contain generally two or more statements. These statements are then followed by a number of conclusions. Based on the statements, you have to find the authenticity of the conclusions. In simple words you have to find that from the given statements.which conclusions logically follows them. The most widelu used approach in solving these types of questions is the Venn diagram approach.
Types of Questions asked in Syllogisms
As such we can expect infinite types of possible cases in the Syllogism Questions. But for the sake of convenience we will discuss the general types which are mist likely to be asked in the examinations.Following are some of the most common types of Syllogism Qyuestions
1) All A are B
In this type of questions, first element is the subset of the second element.Representing it by Venn diagram, the pattern consists of a circle representing A, lying within a circle representing B.
Conclusions we get from the above pattern
- Some B are A.
- Some A are B.
Example: All cats are animals.
Conclusions we get from the above pattern
- Some animals are cats..
- Some cats are animals.
2) No A is B.
In this type of questions, first element is the not at all associated with the second element.Representing it by Venn diagram, the pattern consists of a circle representing A not intersecting the circle representing B.
Conclusions we get from the above pattern:
- No B is A
Example: No cats are animals.
Conclusions we get from the above pattern:
- No animals are cats.
3) Some A are B (Possibility Case)
In this type of questions, first element is having some part in common with the second element.Representing it by Venn diagram, the pattern consists of a circle representing A patially overlapping the circle representing B. The remaining portion of circle A is uncertain whether this portion touches B or not.
Conclusions we may get from the above pattern are based on possibilty and only one or a few out of them will be following the statement.
- Some A are not B
- All A are B.
- All B are A.
- All A are B and All B are A.
Example: Some bats are cats.
Conclusions we get from the above pattern:
- Some bats are not cats.
- All bats are cats.
- All cats are bats.
- All bats are cats and All cats are bats.
4) Some A are not B.
In this type of questions, first element is having some part which is not common with the second element.Representing it by Venn diagram, the pattern consists of a circle representing A having atleast some part that is not overlapping the circle representing B. The remaining portion of circle A is uncertain whether this portion touches B or not.
Conclusions we may get from the above pattern are based on possibilty and only one or a few out of them will be following the statement.
- Some A are not B
- All A are B.
- All B are A.
- All A are not B and All B are not A.
Example: Some bats are not cats.
Conclusions we get from the above pattern
- Some bats are cats.
- All bats are not cats.
- All cats are not bats.
- All bats are not cats and All cats are not bats.
Some Common Rules in Syllogisms
Following are some common rules that you must know in order to solve Syllogism based problems:
- All+All will imply All.
- All+No will imply No.
- All+Some will imply No Conclusion.
- Some+All will imply Some.
- Some+No will imply Some Not.
- Some+Some will imply No Conclusion.
The most important are the possibility cases and you will need the below rules to attemt such type of questuions:
- If All A are B then Some B are Not A is a Possibility.
- If Some B are Not A then All A are B is a Possibility.
- If Some A are B then All A are B is a Possibility & All B are A is a Possibility.
The most impartant part about possibilities cases is that we have to create all possibilities to find whether the given conclusion is possible or not. If the cpnclusion satisfies all th e possibilities only then it is assumed to be correct.
Tips and Tricks to Solve Syllogism based Questions
Following are some handy tips that you should follow to solve syllogism questions
- Go through all the statements one by one.
- Understand how you need to draw Venn Diagrams for each of these statements.
- Try to find out the pattern of the question.
- Understand how to analyse the conclusion for each statement..
- The key point you should remember is that you have to attempt the question in a sequential manner.
This was all about tips and tricks to solve Syllogism based questions.So try the above tips and tricks on the syllogism based questions.
This article is written by Amit Chaudhary, education consultant at MockBank.com, a Bengaluru based online test Preparation Company for government/PSU jobs.
