Reasoning Ability

Syllogism questions with solutions

Syllogism questions give two or three statements and ask which conclusions must be true. Bank exams also test “possibility” conclusions. Drawing quick Venn diagrams is the most reliable method.

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Prepared by the CBTAdda content team · Updated 28 October 2026 · How we check our content

How to solve syllogism questions

Draw the minimum diagram that satisfies every statement. A conclusion follows only if it is true in every possible diagram.
“Some A are B” converts to “Some B are A”. “All A are B” gives “Some B are A”, never “All B are A”.
If neither of two conclusions is certain but they form a pair like “Some A are B” / “No A is B”, the answer is “either I or II”.
A possibility conclusion follows unless a statement rules it out.

Common trap: “Either–or” applies only to a complementary pair about the same two terms; it is not the answer whenever both conclusions fail.

10 practice questions

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Statements: All A are B. All B are C. Conclusions: I. All A are C. II. Some C are A.
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Answer: (E) Both I and II follow. A sits inside B and B inside C, so all A are C. Since A exists and is inside C, some C are A as well. Both follow.
Statements: Some A are B. No B is C. Conclusions: I. Some A are not C. II. No A is C.
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Answer: (A) Only I follows. The A that are B cannot be C, so some A are not C. Other A may or may not be C, so “No A is C” is not certain. Only I follows.
Statements: All cats are dogs. No dog is a rat. Conclusions: I. No cat is a rat. II. Some rats are cats.
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Answer: (A) Only I follows. Every cat is inside “dogs”, and no dog is a rat, so no cat is a rat. II contradicts I. Only I follows.
Statements: Some pens are pencils. Some pencils are erasers. Conclusions: I. Some pens are erasers. II. No pen is an eraser.
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Answer: (C) Either I or II follows. Neither conclusion is certain on its own, but “Some pens are erasers” and “No pen is an eraser” form a complementary pair about the same two terms: one of them must be true. Either I or II follows.
Statements: No book is a pen. All pens are bags. Conclusions: I. Some bags are not books. II. No bag is a book.
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Answer: (A) Only I follows. The bags that are pens can never be books, so some bags are not books. Other bags may be books, so II is not certain. Only I follows.
Statements: All roses are flowers. Some flowers are red. Conclusions: I. Some roses are red. II. All roses being red is a possibility.
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Answer: (B) Only II follows. Roses and red things are not directly linked, so “Some roses are red” is not certain. Nothing rules it out either, so “all roses being red” is possible. Only II follows.
Statements: Only a few A are B. All B are C. Conclusions: I. Some A are not B. II. Some A are C.
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Answer: (E) Both I and II follow. “Only a few A are B” means some A are B and some A are not B, so I follows. The A that are B are also C, so some A are C. Both follow.
Statements: Some boys are girls. All girls are tall. Conclusions: I. Some boys are tall. II. Some tall people are girls.
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Answer: (E) Both I and II follow. The boys who are girls are also tall, so some boys are tall. All girls are tall, so some tall people are girls. Both follow.
Statements: No car is a bus. No bus is a truck. Conclusions: I. No car is a truck. II. Some cars are trucks.
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Answer: (C) Either I or II follows. Two negative statements give no definite link between cars and trucks. “No car is a truck” and “Some cars are trucks” are a complementary pair, so either I or II follows.
Statements: All teachers are graduates. Some graduates are engineers. Conclusions: I. All engineers are teachers. II. Some teachers are engineers.
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Answer: (D) Neither I nor II follows. Teachers and engineers are only linked through “graduates”, and the second statement says nothing about which graduates. Neither conclusion is certain, and they are not a complementary pair. Neither follows.