Strategy Tips and Tricks to Solve Syllogism Questions

A syllogism is a widespread set of questions in all important government jobs exams, bank job exams, and most of the major competitive exams. This topic falls under the reasoning section of the paper. In the last few years, the weightage of this topic has remarkably increased and thus is very important for an overall good score.

According to the latest paper pattern, there are about 4 to 5 syllogism questions in every exam. Hence, being a significant part of the reasoning section, not focusing on them, might give up many marks. Therefore, students need to learn various tips and tricks that prove helpful while solving these types of questions to ensure efficient scoring.

Before diving into the topic of how to crack the syllogism riddle perfectly, candidates must understand what syllogism questions are.

What are the Syllogism Based Questions?

Syllogism questions are generally placed under the Verbal Reasoning Section of the paper and form a fundamental category covered frequently in almost all the competitive exams. The list of such exams includes SBI SO, IBPS PO, SBI Clerk, IBPS Specialist Officer, IBPS Clerk, SBI PO, IBPS RRB, Staff Selection Commission (SSC), and more.

These questions are framed pretty simply and look easy to solve as well at first glance. They comprise mainly two or more statements. Based on the statements, examinees have to figure out the authenticity of the given conclusions. In simple terms, from the given statements, the candidates have to find which conclusions logically match the problem's statements. 

Thus, the most important strategy to solve syllogisms becomes - ‘the proper assessment of the conditions given in the problem’. The most commonly used method in figuring out Syllogism-based questions is by taking the help of Venn diagrams.

Syllogism questions: Types and their corresponding Venn representation

• All X are Y: This statement means that case X is contained in case Y but not necessarily vice versa. This means X is a subset of Y, but Y may not be a subset of X. The Venn diagram for this situation will be a circle named X enclosed inside a circle named Y.  

Logically this means that all elements of X belong to set B. Conversely, set Y elements also belong to Set X. However, all elements of set Y do not belong to Set X.

• X = Y: In this case, the conclusion is similar to the first type, i.e. ‘All X are Y’. However, in this case, ‘All X are Y’ and ‘All Y are X’. This means set X is a subset of set Y, and set Y is also a subset of set X. 

Here X is contained in Y and so is Y contained in X. This, in simple terms, means set X contains all elements of Y, and again set Y also contains all elements of X.

The Venn diagram for such a scenario is a single circle which represents both X and Y, i.e. circles X and Y coincide. The area of the circle represents all the elements common to both Set X and Y.

• No X are Y: It is simply understandable from the above phrase that set Y does not contain any set X element, so set X is not contained inside set Y. This means that X and Y are disjoint sets. The Venn diagram for this case contains two circles that are not intersecting with each other or even touching.

Therefore no part of Set X’s circle is present inside of Set Y’s circle, and similarly, no part of Y is present in X. The diagram is simply two different circles that do not touch each other in any way.

• Some X are Y: This is the case when some of X is in Y that is X and Y are intersecting, and thus the statement - ‘some Y are X’ will also be true. The Venn diagram depiction of the above case will be two circles representing set X and set Y intersecting for some mutual area.

Here, this standard portion between the two circles indicates that some X is contained in Y. In contrast, the unshaded portion is the uncertain portion and does not indicate whether X is contained in Y.

• Some X are not Y: This means that some portion of set X is not contained in set Y for sure while the other part of set X is uncertain whether it is contained inside set Y or not. 

The Venn diagram is similar to the previous scenario, but in this case, we shift our focus to the circle X area that is not in the intersection with circle Y and is hence shaded. The area that is not included in circle Y belongs to X and satisfies the above condition.

Tips to keep in mind while solving Syllogisms:

• Understand the question correctly: Read the question thoroughly and focus on all the keywords before solving the question.
• Attention to keywords: Paying close attention to words like some, a few, all, at least, can help candidates factually simplify the questions and solve them faster.
• Venn diagrams: The Venn diagram approach of solving questions gives a clear idea about the question's logic and makes the explanation clear and simple. Proper analysis of the Venn diagram can easily give the required answers.
• The sequence of statements: While drawing the Venn diagram, the sequence of the statements is essential. This quickly helps to draw the correct Venn diagram.
• Do not assume: Candidates must never assume any details from the question while solving it. They must proceed with only the data that is specified in the question.
• Cross-check your answer: Even after the answer is reached, the examinees must check for any existing alternative solutions to the questions.

Some Common Rules

Given below are some of the basic rules that are essential for solving Syllogism based problems:

• All plus All will imply All.
• All plus No will imply No.
• All plus Some will imply No Conclusion.
• Some plus All will imply Some.
• Some plus No will imply Some Not.
• Some plus Some will imply No Conclusion.

After the above bunch comes ‘possibility questions’. Candidates can follow the below conclusions to solve most ‘possibility questions’.

If All X are Y then Some Y are Not X is a Possibility.

If Some Y are Not X then All X are Y is a Possibility.

If Some X are Y then All X is Y is a Possibility and All Y are X is also a Possibility.

Remembering all the possibilities is a crucial step in solving these questions. Sometimes a solution might fit just one possibility and hence even though it appears correct it may be logically wrong. Candidates must look for all the possibilities in the statements before drawing any definite conclusions.

Also Read: How To Learn English For Government Exams?