Syllogism Questions for SBI PO

The Four Types of Statements

Every syllogism question is built on four types of categorical statements. Think of them as four gates you must recognize instantly. Universal Affirmative (All A are B) means every single member of A belongs to B. Universal Negative (No A is B) means zero overlap between A and B. Particular Affirmative (Some A are B) means at least one member of A belongs to B. Particular Negative (Some A are not B) means at least one member of A does not belong to B.

• All A are B — Universal Affirmative (UA). Full inclusion.
• No A is B — Universal Negative (UN). Zero inclusion.
• Some A are B — Particular Affirmative (PA). Partial inclusion, at least one.
• Some A are not B — Particular Negative (PN). Partial exclusion.
• Treat 'Some' as meaning 1 or more, never zero.
• The word 'only' changes direction: 'Only A are B' means 'All B are A', not the other way.

Venn Diagram Method — The Exam-Ready Approach

The fastest method in SBI PO is drawing quick Venn diagrams. For each statement, draw the minimum possible case (to check if a conclusion MUST be true) and then draw the maximum possible case (to check if a conclusion CAN be false). A conclusion is valid only if it holds true in ALL possible diagrams. Draw small circles, label them, and check each conclusion separately. For 2-statement sets, you normally need only 1-2 diagrams. For 3-statement sets, chain them step by step.

• Always draw the minimum diagram first — this tests whether the conclusion is definitely true.
• If even one valid diagram breaks the conclusion, it is NOT valid.
• All A are B: draw A inside B (A is smaller circle fully inside B).
• No A is B: draw A and B as completely separate circles.
• Some A are B: draw two circles with a partial overlap.
• Some A are not B: draw A partially outside B, but some part of A can still be in B.

Conclusion Rules Without Diagrams — Quick Algebra Method

When you practice enough, you can use these rules directly to save time. The key insight: if both premises are Particular (Some), no definite conclusion follows. If one premise is Negative and the other is Positive, the conclusion must be Negative. Universal conclusions (All, No) need both premises to be Universal. A Particular conclusion can come from at least one Universal premise. Think of it as: strength flows downward — you cannot conclude stronger than your weakest premise.

• All + All = All (UA + UA = UA conclusion possible)
• All + No = No (UA + UN = UN conclusion possible)
• All + Some = Some (UA + PA = PA conclusion possible)
• Some + All = Some (PA + UA = PA conclusion, direction matters)
• Some + Some = No conclusion (PA + PA = nothing valid)
• Some + No = Some-not (PA + UN = PN conclusion possible)

Reverse Syllogism — SBI PO Special

SBI PO Mains sometimes gives you the conclusions and asks which set of statements produces them. This is reverse syllogism. The trick here is to work backwards: look at the conclusion, identify what type of statement it is (UA, UN, PA, PN), and then check which pair of premises in the options could logically produce it using the standard combination rules. Do not second-guess — apply the same rules, just in reverse direction.

• Read the conclusion first, identify its type (All/No/Some/Some-not).
• Eliminate options whose premise types cannot produce that conclusion type.
• If conclusion is 'All', both premises must be Universal Affirmative.
• If conclusion is 'Some-not', at least one premise must be negative.
• This question type rewards aspirants who have memorized the combination table cold.
• Practice time: allocate no more than 45 seconds per reverse syllogism question.

• Assuming 'All A are B' means 'All B are A'. This is wrong. The arrow only goes one way. A is inside B, not the other way around.
• Accepting a conclusion that is POSSIBLY true instead of DEFINITELY true. In syllogism, a conclusion must hold in every valid diagram, not just one.
• Forgetting to check the Either-Or condition. When neither conclusion alone follows but they form a contradictory pair (one must be true), the answer is Either I or II follows. Many aspirants mark 'Neither' and lose marks.
• Reversing the order in Some conclusions. 'Some A are B' does allow you to conclude 'Some B are A', but only because Some is symmetric — do not apply this to All or No.
• In 3-statement questions, trying to combine all three at once. Always chain them two at a time: derive a midway conclusion from statements 1 and 2, then combine that with statement 3.

• AUNP Rule: All-Universal, Some-uNiversal + particular can give Particular, No-universal Negative — remember AUNP as the strength ladder going down.
• Traffic Light analogy: All = Green (full pass), No = Red (full stop), Some = Yellow (partial, be careful), Some-not = Orange (partial block).
• Middle Term Bridge: think of the middle term as a bridge between two islands. If the bridge is not strong (distributed), cars (conclusions) cannot cross safely.
• Either-Or test in 3 steps: (1) Neither conclusion alone is valid, (2) the two conclusions are contradictory to each other, (3) together they cover the universe. All 3 must pass, or it is not Either-Or.

• SBI PO Prelims usually has 4-5 syllogism questions in a set. They come with 2 to 3 statements and 2 conclusions each. Expect at least one Either-Or question in every set.
• SBI PO Mains reasoning has included reverse syllogism in recent years (2019 onwards). Prepare that variant specifically — it is a differentiator between 85th and 95th percentile scorers.
• Time target: solve a 2-statement syllogism in 30 seconds using the combination rule table. Use Venn diagrams only when unsure — that takes 45-60 seconds but gives certainty.
• SBI PO tends to use tricky language like 'at least some', 'not a single', 'a few'. Map these to standard types before solving: 'at least some' = Some, 'not a single' = No.
• Do not skip syllogism. Even if the passage or puzzle sets are hard, these 4-5 questions are solvable in under 3 minutes with practice. That time-to-marks ratio is one of the best in the entire paper.