BASICS ON SYLLOGISM

Hello Readers,
We are providing some basic of Syllogism that will clarify your doubts to some extent. Also,
practice the questions given below!!!

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Directions (1 - 11): In each question below are given two or three statements followed by
two conclusions numbered I and II. You have to take the two given statements to be true
even if they seem to be at variance with commonly known facts. Read both the statements
and then decide which of the given conclusions logically follows from the given statements,
disregarding commonly known facts.
Give answers:
Give answer (1) if only conclusion I is true.
Give answer (2) if only conclusion II is true.
Give answer (3) if either conclusion I or II is true.
Give answer (4) if neither conclusion I nor II is true.
Give answer (5) if both conclusions I and II is true
1. Statements:
Some apples are mangoes.
Some mangoes are oranges.
No orange is apple.
Conclusions:
I. some mangoes that are oranges are apples
II. some apples that are mangoes are oranges
2. Statements:
Some birds are animals.
All animals are black.
No black is white.
Some whites are birds.
Conclusions:
I. Some birds which are black are not white.
II. All animals which are black are necessarily bird.
3. Statements:
All scooters are buses.
All bikes are buses
50% buses are trains
Conclusions:
I. All buses are either bikes or scooters.
II. Some scooters being train is a possibility
4. Statements:
All apples which are red is tasty.
Most reds are apples.
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Most apples are balls

Conclusions:
I. Some reds are tasty.
II. Some apples are neither red nor ball.
5. Statements:
All cups are plates.
Some plates are bowls.
Conclusions:
I. Some bowls if they are cups, are also plates.
II. All bowls which are not plates are also not cups.
6. Statements:
Some roses which are plants are flowers.
All plants are lotus.
Conclusions:
I. Some lotus are not flowers.
II. Some lotus which are roses are flowers.
III. Some roses are lotus.
7. Statements:
All matches are cups.
Some fields are not viewers.
All viewers are fans.
Some matches are not fans.
Conclusions:
I. Some cup which are fans are not viewers.
II. Some matches which are not viewers are cups.
III. Some fields which are fans are not matches.
8. Statements:
Some pens are books.
Some books are pencils.
Some pencils are rubbers.
All books are slates.
Conclusions:
I. All pencils are books.
II. All pens are pencils.
III. Some slates are pens.
IV. All slates are books

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9. Statements:
All roses which are leaves are flowers.
Some sunflowers which are leaves are not plants.
Conclusions:
I. Some roses which are plants are not flowers.
II. Some flowers which are roses are not sunflowers.
10.Statements:
Some animals are not cats.
All elephants are cats.
No Kangaroo is animals.
Conclusions:
I. Some animals who are not elephants are not kangaroos.
II. Some cats are not Kangaroos.
11. Statements:
Some schools which are not students are colleges.
No student is a principal.
All schools are principals.
Conclusions:
I. No college is a principal.
II. Some principals are colleges.
III. All colleges are schools.
ANSWERS
1. (4)

2. (1)

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3. (2)

4. (1)

5. (5)

6. (3)

7. (2)

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8. (3)

9. (3)

10. (1)

11. (3)
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SYLLOGISM AT ITS BEST

Hello Readers,
Piscine Molitor (Pi) again provided us one of his magnificent post on "Syllogism at its Best". So,
here we are providing you the same. Don't forget to thank him!!!
Im sure most people would have tried to do these questions, with the wrong conclusions. What
they did are, they first made all the conclusions and then they headed on the conclusion, seeing if
theyre fitting in their circles or not. Then they ticked the right conclusions, crossed the wrong
ones, and whoosh, wrong answer!
Now, in this post, Id like make you understand this trick of picking up the right conclusions!!
The trick is One statement has many conclusions!!
Now, lets start from the basic statements
Statement 1: All A are B

Now, lets try all these conclusions if they fit in this statement
1. Some A are B
2. No A are B
3. Some A are not B
4. All B are A
5. Some B are A
6. No B are A
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7. Some B are not A

Is conclusion 1 following?
Yes! Of course! All A are B, that means Some A are Definitely B
Is conclusion 2 following?

Of course not!
What about 3rd?
Yes yes. Not following
4th?
Well, can follow, if A encircles B, i.e. All A are B and All B are A
5th?
Of course, some B are A
6th?
Bullshit conclusion. How can no B are A
7th?
Well, look at 4th conclusion. Its possible that All B are A if A also encircles B. In that case, Some
B are not A will not follow. So, theres a possibility that this 7th conclusion will follow.
Understood?
Statement 2: Some A are B
Now, lets try all these conclusions if they fit in this statement

1. All A are B
2. No A are B
3. Some A are not B
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4. All Bare A
5. Some B are A
6. No Bare A
7. Some B are not A

Is conclusion 1 following?
Could follow.
2nd?
Impossible.
3rd?
It wont follow in all the cases, but its possible.
4th?
Again, its possible.
5th?
Yes. Follow. In all cases.

6th?
Impossible.Nahinahinahi!
7th?
It could be possible. Wont follow in all the cases, but yes, it also could be possible.

Statement 3: No A are B
Now, lets try all these conclusions if they fit in this statement
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1. All A are B
2. Some A are B
3. Some A are not B
4. All Bare A
5. Some B are A
6. No Bare A

7. Some B are not A

Conclusion 1 following?
Of course not!
2nd?
Haha..
3rd?

No A are B, then Some A are also Not B.. Yes, following!

4th?
Clearly, not following!
5th?
What the hell. Not following!
6th?
Now this is class. Yes, follows!
7th?
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Of course will follow! No A are B only means, No B are A, which also means, Some B are not A
Statement 4: Some A are not B

Now, lets try all these conclusions if they fit in this statement
1. All A are B
2. Some A are B
3. No A are B
4. AllB are A
5. Some B are A

6. No Bare A
7. Some B are not A
Is conclusion 1 following?
Of course not!
2nd?
It could be possible! Not in all cases, but it could be possible

3rd?
Again, could be possible!
4th?
Yes, yes. Could be possible!

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5th?
Not in all cases, but could be possible!

6th?
Again, it also could be possible!
7th?
Again, possible!

Now, lets solve some basic questions based on all the things that weve just learned.

Question 1:
Statements:
All buckets are mugs.
All lunch boxes are pencil boxes.
Some pencil boxes are mugs.
Some buckets are not drums.

Conclusions:
I. All mugs are lunchboxes.
II. All lunchboxes are buckets.
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III. Some lunchboxes are mugs.

IV. Some drums are not mugs.
1? Not follows
2? Not follows
3? Not follows
4? Not follows
Question 2:

Statements:
Some chairs are tables.
Some desks are benches.
All benches are tables.
Some woods are not desks.
Conclusions:
I. Some benches are desks.
II. Some tables are benches.
III. Some woods are not benches.
IV. Some desks are tables.

1? Yes
2? Yes
3? Not follows
4? Yes

Question 3:
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Statements:
No bank is a market.
Some markets are offices.

All restaurants are offices.

Some banks are rooms.
Conclusions:
I. Some markets are not rooms.
II. Some offices are not banks.
III. Some restaurants are markets.
IV. Some rooms are restaurants.
1? Not Follows
2? Yes. Some offices which are Market cannot be Banks
3? Not follows
4? Not follows
Question 4:
Statements:
All ones are twos.

Some threes are fours.

All three are ones.
All five are fours.
Conclusions:
I. Some fives are threes.
II. Some ones are fives.
III. Some twos are fives.
IV. Some twos are fours

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1? Not follows
2? Not follows
3? Not follows
4? Yes. Follows

SYLLOGISM AT ITS BEST - PART - II

,
Yet another marvellous post by Piscine Moliter (Pi) on "Possibility cases in Syllogism and
solving them using Venn Diagrams". We couldn't thank you enough Pi!!
Recall the previous article in which we had studied these basic things:
A statement has many conclusions (cases)
And thus, so many diagrams are possible!!
In possibility questions, the examiner asks if there exists any such case (diagram) where this
conclusion is valid. So, you job is to find out this case. If there exists at least one such case, then
the conclusion holds true. If not, then the conclusion is false. As simple as that!
Keeping this and also the previous Syllogism Post in mind, lets solve some possibility questions.
Abbreviations that I used:
Basic Diagram = BD
Modified Diagram = MD
Question 1:

Statements:
A. All flowers are trees
B. Some trees are houses
C. All houses are wheels
Lets first make a BD according to these statements.
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Conclusions:
1. At least some wheels are trees
2. Some trees are flowers
3. All wheels are flower is a possibility

Now, see the BD,

Conclusion 1 clearly follows.
Conclusion 2 also clearly follows.
But, what about Conclusion 3?
Lets make a MD and see if it follows or not!
In the MD, we can clearly see that all the statements are still valid, and Conclusion 3 also is
following. So, Conclusion 3 follows.

1? Follows

2? Follows

3? Follows

Understood?
Lets now solve another question!
Question 2:

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Statements:
A. Some desks are chairs
B. Some chairs are pens
C. Some pens are drawers
First, make a BD according to these statements.
Conclusions:
1. At least some drawers are desks
2. There is a possibility all drawers are chairs
3. No drawer is a chair
Now, see the BD
Conclusion 1 clearly doesnt follow.

But, what about Conclusion 2?

Lets make a MD
See the MD, Conclusion 2 follows in it.
And if there is a possibility that All drawers are chairs, then how could No drawer is a chair
follow?
So, Conclusion 3 will not follow!

1? Doesnt follows

2? Follows

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3? Doesnt follows

Understood?
Lets solve another one!
Question 3:

Statements:
A. All politicians are corrupt
B. Some politicians are honest
C. No leader is honest
First, make a BD according to these statements.
Conclusions:
1. Some politicians are not leader
2. All honest being corrupt is a possibility

3. Some leaders are not corrupt

Now, see the BD,
Some politicians, which are honest (Red Portion), cannot beleaders.
So, Conclusion 1 clearly follows.
But, what about Conclusion 2?
Lets make a MD.
See the MD, Conclusion 2 clearly follows!

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What about conclusion 3?

Lets make another MD.
See the last diagram, All leaders are corrupt could be a possibility! So, Conclusion 3 doesnt
follow.

1? Follows

2? Follows

3? Doesnt follows

Understood?
Question 4:

Statements:
A. Some people are intelligent
B. All intelligent are honest
C. No intelligent is smart
First, make a BD according to these statements.
Conclusions:
1. Some honest are not smart
2. All people being honest is a possibility
3. Some honest are people
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Now, see the BD,

Some honest, which are intelligent (Red Portion), cannot be smart.
So, Conclusion 1 follows.
But, what about Conclusion 2?

Lets make a MD.

See the MD, Conclusion 2 clearly follows.
Conclusion 3 also follows.

1? Follows

2? Follows

3? Follows

Understood?
Question 5:

Statements:
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A. Some writers are poets

B. All poets are singers
C. Many singers are actors
D. No singer is a dancer
First, make a BD according to these statements.
Conclusions:
1. Some writers are singers
2. Some actors are not dancers
3. All poets being actor is a possibility
4. No poet is a dancer
See the BD,
Conclusion 1 clearly follows.
Also, some actors, which are singers (Red Portion), cannot be dancers.
So, Conclusion 2 also follows.

But, what about Conclusion 3?

Lets make a MD.
See the MD,
Conclusion 3 clearly follows.
Also, since no singer is a dancer, so, no poet is a dancer.
Hence, Conclusion 4 is also following!

1? Follows

2? Follows

3? Follows

4? Follows

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Understood?

Syllogism (Logical Deduction)

Hello Readers,
Prakash Guru again provided us one of his magnificent post on "Syllogism (Logical Deduction)".
So, here we are providing you the same. Don't forget to thank him!!!
I faced lots of problem in solving these problems until I went through the logic behind it.
Trivia: It was introduced by Aristotle.
One way to solve syllogism is the Venn-Diagram method. But the problem is that it is tedious,
lengthy and complicated too. Hope everybody agrees with it.
Hope the following note helps one and all!!
Syllogism is a deductive argument in which conclusion has to be drawn from two propositions
referred to as premises.
1. Proposition/Premise = Quantifier+ Subject+ Copula+ Predicate.

Quantifier: All, No, Some, Atleast, Atmost etc.

All/No: Universal Quantifiers(as it refers to every object in a certain set)

Some/Atleast/Atmost: Particular Quantifiers(as it refers to atleast one existing object in

a certain set).

2. Subject: The subject is that about which something is said.

3. Predicate: The predicate is that part which is being affirmed /denied.
4. Copula: it denotes the relation between the subject and the predicate.
Example

All/Some etc. - Quantifier

Men - Subject

Are - Copula

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Animals - Predicate

Classification of Propositions:

Universal affirmative proposition or Type- A: ex. All Snakes are reptiles.

Universal Negative Proposition or Type-E: ex. No boy is Intelligent

Particular Affirmative or Type-I: ex. some men are foolish.

Particular Negative or Type-O : ex. some animals are not wild

Table 1: Summarizing the above propositions (Memorize this)

Statement
form

Quantity

Quality

Distribution

All S is P

Universal

S only

No S is P

Universal

Affirmativ
e
Negative

Some S is P

Particula Affirmativ
r
e
Some S is not Particula
Negative
P
r
S: Subject; P= Predicate

Both S and P
Neither S nor
P
Only P

Table 2: Rule of Conversion: (Memorize this)

Statement
form
All S is P

Valid
Conversion/
Conclusion
Some P is S

No S is P

No P is S

Some S is
P

Some P is S

Some S is
not P

No valid
Statement: Some men are not fools
Conversion
Valid Conclusion:---S: Subject; P= Predicate

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Examples
Statement: All men are fools
Valid Conclusion: some fools are
men
Statement: No men are fools
Valid Conclusion: No fools are
men
Statement: Some men are fools
Valid Conclusion: Some fools are
men

Syllogism is concerned with 3 terms:

Major Term: It is the predicate of the conclusion and is denoted by P.

Minor term: It is the subject of the conclusion and is denoted by S.

Middle term: It is the term common to both the premises and is denoted by M.

An Example to make you clear about the terms:

Premises:
1. All dogs are animals
2. All Tigers are dogs.
Conclusion:
All tigers are animals
Here,
Animals: is the predicate of the conclusion and hence the major term.
Tigers: is the subject of the Conclusion and hence the minor term.
Dogs: is common to both the premises and hence termed as the middle term
Note: Of the two premises, the major premise is that in which the middle term is the subject and
the minor premise is that in which the middle term is the predicate.
SO GUESS YOURSELF IN THE ABOVE PREMISES WHICH IS THE MAJOR AND WHICH
IS THE MINOR ??
P.S: If you find the answer you have studied this well, if not read once again!!
Rules for deriving the conclusion from 2 premises:
(MAJOR PART-READ CAREFULLY AND MEMORIZE ALL THE CONDITIONS)
a. The conclusion should not contain the middle term.
Example Premises
1. All mens are girls
2. Some girls are students.
Conclusion: Some girls are men ; all girls are men.
Explanation: In the above example neither of the conclusion is valid, as the middle term i.e.
girls is present in both the conclusions.
b. No term can be distributed in the conclusion unless it is distributed in the premises.
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Example Premises:
1. Some dogs are goats
2. All goats are cows.
Conclusions: All cows are dogs; some dogs are cows.
Explanation - Here, in conclusion 1 the term Cow is distributed but it is not distributed in the
premise i.e premise-2 since it is a A-type proposition and the term Cow to be distributed must
be the subject (Refer table-1) of the proposition.
c. The middle term (M) should be distributed at least once in the premises, otherwise no
conclusion follows.
Statement
type
A

Distribution Condition

"M" must be Subject/Predicate

"M" must be predicate

Cannot be distributed/Not
distributed

"M" must be Subject

Ex.:
Premises:
1. All fans are watches
2. Some watches are black
In the above premises the middle term is watches, since it is not distributed in both
premises(refer above table for distribution conditions) no conclusion can be drawn except the
conversions of the premises.
d. No conclusion follows:
If both premises are particular i.e I type.
Ex.:
1. Some balloons are flowers
2. Some flowers are petals
(No conclusion can arise from the above two premises other than the conversions).
If both premises are negative i.e. E-type.
Ex,
1. No ship is a boat
2. No boat is a vessel
(No conclusion can be deducted from the above statements, other than their conversions).
If major premise is particular and minor is negative
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Ex.
1. Some dogs are bulls
2. No tigers are dogs
(Here dogs is the middle term and it is present in the subject part of the first premise which
makes it the major premise, thus premise 2 is the minor and it is negative, thus as per the
condition no conclusion can arise from the premises other than their conversions.)
e. If the middle term is distributed twice, the conclusion cannot be Universal.
Ex.
1.All fans are chairs
2. No tables are fans.
( As the middle term fans is distributed twice in the above premises, the conclusion cannot be
universal i.e No chairs are tables, rather the conclusion will be Some chairs are not tables i.e
particular negative-O type)
f. If one premise is negative, the conclusion must be negative.
Ex.
1. All grasses are trees
2. No tree is a shrub
Conclusion: Here the conclusion that will arise from the above premises is No grass is a shrub
as the middle term tree is only distributed in the second premise and one premise is negative).
g. If one premise is particular, the conclusion must be particular.
Ex.
1. Some boys are thieves
2. All thieves are dacoits
(Here the conclusion must be particular i.e some boys are dacoits, since the middle)
h. If both premises are universal affirmative, the conclusion should be universal
affirmative.
Ex,
1. All womens are mothers
2. All mothers are sisters.
(Here the conclusion must be All womens are sisters)
The above conditions when applied on syllogism problems, makes the problems easy. Try it
yourself.
What is a complementary pair?
Sometimes there is an option like either 1 or 2 follows. This is because of a complementary
pair in the conclusions.
The pairs that make a complementary pair are I-O type, A-O type or I-E type given that the
subject and predicate remains same in both the statements.
To explain this lets consider the following examples:

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Pair I: i.) All gardens are bulbs ii.) Some gardens are not bulbs

Pair II: i.) Some gardens are bulbs ii.) Some gardens are not bulbs

Pair III : i.) Some gardens are bulbs ii.) No gardens are bulbs.

Pair IV: i.) All gardens are bulbs ii.) No gardens are bulbs

Pair V: i.) All gardens are bulbs ii.) Some bulbs are not gardens.

Explanation: Pairs I, II and III make a complementary pair each while Pairs IV and V dont. In
pair-I the first statement is of type A and the second is of type O and thus an A-O type pair makes
a complementary pair.
Similarly pair II and Pair III makes I-O and I-E type of pair respectively thus it makes a
complementary pair.
Pair IV is an A-E type of pair and thus it do not make a complementary pair.
Pair V is and A-O type pair but still do not make a complementary pair, since the subject and
predicate are jot same in both the statements.
Some Important Tips:

Practice as many problems as possible and you will automatically remember the logics
that I have shared.

Remember always about the conversions, because maximum times the conclusions are in
the form of conversions only.

Try all possibilities, as from two conclusions or from one conclusion and another premise
another conclusion can be obtained.

Refer books like BSC and Dr. R.S Aggarwal and practice problems

Solve Quiz given by BA on syllogism, because they are really good.

Once you do a lot of problems I am sure you neednt even write the problems you will
just look at the premises/proposition and derive all the possible conclusions.

Now let us decipher the quiz put by BA on 17/9/2014

1. Statements:
All buckets are mugs.
All lunch boxes are pencil boxes.
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Some pencil boxes are mugs.

Some buckets are not drums.
Conclusions:
I. All mugs are lunchboxes.
II. All lunchboxes are buckets.
III. Some lunchboxes are mugs.
IV. Some drums are not mugs.
(1) Only III follows
(2) Only I and III follow
(3) Only II and III follow
(4) None of these
(5) Only II follows
Solution with explanation: Here, premise 2 and premise 3 have pencil boxes as the middle
term, but it is not distributed in any of the premises since premise 2 is A-type, so the middle term
must be the subject but it is in the predicate, and premise 3 is I-type, so middle term cannot be
distributed, thus no conclusion can arise from the statements. In premise 1 and premise 4 the
middle term is buckets and is also distributed in one premise that is premise 1 but the predicate if
different, thus no conclusion follows. So, now check the conclusions for a complementary pair or
a conversion of the any statements, and a careful analysis shows nothing such. Thus the answer
is 4-None follows.
2. Statements:
Some chairs are tables.
Some desks are benches.
All benches are tables.
Some woods are not desks.
Conclusions:
I. Some benches are desks.
II. Some tables are benches.
III. Some woods are not benches.
IV. Some desks are tables.
(1) Only III follows
(2) Only I and III follow
(3) Only I, II and IV follow
(4) Only II and IV follow
(5) None of these
Solution with explanation: Here we can only compare, premise 2 and premise 3. In the said
premises the middle term is benches and it is distributed in premise 3 and one premise is
particular so the conclusion shall be particular and without the middle term i.e Some desks are

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tables which matches the conclusion IV and there is no complementary and conclusion I and II
are conversions of premise 2 and premise 3. Thus Only I,II and IV follows-that is option 3.
3. Statements:
No bank is a market.
Some markets are offices.
All restaurants are offices.
Some banks are rooms.
Conclusions:
I. Some markets are not rooms.
II. Some offices are not banks.
III. Some restaurants are markets.
IV. Some rooms are restaurants.
(1) Only I and II follow
(2) Only II follows
(3) Only I, II and III follow
(4) Only I and III follow
(5) None of these
Solution with explanations: See premise 1 is negative and premise 2 is particular and the
middle term markets is distributed in premise 1 thus the conclusion shall be particular
negative without the middle term i.e some offices are not banks, now premise 1 and premise 4
have the same conditions, middle term being banks so conclusion shall be particular negative
without the middle term i.e some rooms are not market but conclusion 1 is some markets are
not rooms which is not similar as there is no valid conversion for a particular negative
statement. So only conclusion II follows- option 2.
4. Statements:
All ones are twos.
Some threes are fours.
All three are ones.
All fives are fours.
Conclusions:
I. Some fives are threes.
II. Some ones are fives.
III. Some twos are fives.
IV. Some twos are fours.
(1) Only I and IV follow
(2) Only IV follows
(3) Only II and IV follow
(4) None of these
(5) Only I follows
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Solution with explanation: From premise 2 and 3 we get some fours are ones now making
this as a premise and comparing with premise 1 i.e All one are twos we get some fours are
twos, the conversion being some twos are fours which is conclusion IV, thus only Conclusion
IV follows-option 2 is your answer.
5. Statements:
Some ice-creams are cakes.
All cakes are biscuits.
Some biscuits are parles.
Some parles are toffees.
Conclusions:
I. All ice-creams are biscuits.
II. Some ice-creams are biscuits.
III. Some toffees are biscuits.
IV. Some cakes are biscuits.
(1) Only I and III follow
(2) Only I and II follow
(3) Only II follows
(4) Only II and IV follow
(5) None of these
Solution with Explanation: Comparing Premise 1 and 2 we get the conclusion as Some icecreams are biscuits with is conclusion II. Now statement 1s conversion is Some biscuits are
cakes, the conversion of this conversion is Some cakes are biscuits which is conclusion IV
thus only II and IV follows.- option 4 is your answer.

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