How to solve Syllogism Questions for IPMAT & DU JAT

Syllogism is one of the most important topics in Logical Reasoning Subject. In most of the entrance exams, including IPMAT and DU JAT, you come across 4-5 questions from the syllogism topic.

Most of you might feel that this topic is tricky and time-consuming. However, these questions can be easily solved in the exam by learning a few techniques.

Wondering, how? Well, this post takes you through detailed information on how to solve Syllogism questions for IPMAT and DU JAT, types of Syllogisms, sample questions, and more.

What is Syllogism?

Syllogisms are the logical argument statements using deductive reasoning to arrive at a conclusion based on two or more propositions that are asserted to be true.

Questions based on the syllogism topic include two or more statements followed by conclusions.

You have to identify the conclusion on the basis of the given statements.

Types of Syllogism Questions

There are infinite types of possible cases of syllogism questions, however, we have discussed the general types which are most likely to be asked in the IPMAT Exam and DU JAT Exam.

1. All A are B

In this type of question, A is contained in B but not necessarily vice-versa. This states that A is a subset of B, but B may not be a subset of A.

Example:

Statement: A is a dog, B is an animal

Conclusion: 

• Some dogs are animals
• Some animals are dogs

2. A=B

In this type of question, A is a subset of B and B is also a subset of A.

Conclusion:

• Dogs are animals
• Animals are dogs

3. No A is B

In this type of question, A is not related to B, which means B does not contain any of A and A is not contained in B.

Conclusion:

No dogs are animals

4. Some A are B

In this type of question, some of A is in B that is A, and B are overlapping each other. Thus, some B are A will also be true.

Statement:

• All cats are dogs
• All dogs are cats

Conclusion:

• All cats are dogs and All dogs are cats

5. Some A are not B

In this case, some portion of A is not included in B for sure while it is uncertain that whether the other part of A is included in B or not.

Rules to Solve Syllogism Questions for IPMAT and DU JAT

There are certain rules that you should follow while solving the questions that are based on Syllogism. Let us have a look at the rules and enhance your preparation for the upcoming exams.

• All+ All will always imply an "All" conclusion.
• All+No will always imply a "No" conclusion.
• All+Some will always imply a "No" conclusion.
• Some+ All will always imply a "Some" conclusion.
• Some+No will always imply a "Some not" conclusion.
• Some+Some will always imply a "No" conclusion.

How to Solve Syllogism Questions for IPMAT and DU JAT?

The core technique to solve the syllogism questions lies in connecting one statement with another statement and verifying the statements given in the conclusion.

Listed below are some of the best Preparation Tips for IPMAT and DU JAT for solving syllogism questions.

• Firstly, go through all the statements one by one carefully.
• Draw Venn diagrams to easily differentiate one statement from another.
• Find out the pattern of the question.
• Try to explore all the possibilities in statements that include "All" and "No" before coming to the conclusion.
• Syllogism questions with "some" and "all" can be confusing. So, try to understand the difference between them.
• Make sure to solve a syllogism question in a sequential manner. Otherwise, it will result in confusion.
• Find a common relation between statements and conclusions.

Sample Syllogism Questions for IPMAT and DU JAT

To help you get an idea about the type of questions asked in the exam and the difficulty level, we have curated some syllogism questions from the previous year's Question Papers for IPMAT and DU JAT.

Q. Read the questions to determine the most logical conclusions that follow the given statements, disregarding commonly known facts.

Statements:

• (A) All chairs are tables.
• (B) All tables are windows.

Conclusions:

• I. Some tables are chairs.                   
• II. Some windows are chairs.

Mark your answers accordingly

1. If only conclusion I follow
2. If only conclusion II follows
3. If either I or II follows
4. If neither I nor II follows
5. If both follow.

Q. The following questions consist of five/six statements, each followed by options consisting of three statements put together in a specific order. Choose the best option which indicates a valid argument, that is, where the third statement is a conclusion drawn from the preceding two statements:

(A) No monsoon is a season.; 

(B) Some seasons are monsoons.; 

(C)  Some seasons are spring.; 

(D) No seasons are spring.; 

(E) Some monsoons are not spring.;

 (F) All monsoons are spring.

Options:

(a) DFA

(b) BEF

(c) CBE

(d) DEB

Q) The following questions consist of five/six statements, each followed by options consisting of three statements put together in a specific order. Choose the best option which indicates a valid argument, that is, where the third statement is a conclusion drawn from the preceding two statements:

(A) All crackers are pollutants.; 

(B) All crackers are noisy.;

 (C) All crackers are burst during Diwali.; 

(D)  All cars are pollutants.; 

(E) Some pollutants are crackers.

Options:

(a) ABC

(b) BCA

(c) ADE

(d) all of the above