Study Material — 15 PYQs (2022–2022) · Concept Notes · Shortcuts
SSC CPO Syllogism is a frequently tested subtopic — 15 previous year questions from 2022–2022 papers are included below with concept notes, key rules and shortcut tricks.
15 questions from actual SSC CPO papers · all shown free · click option to reveal solution
Exam Q 12022Previous Year Pattern
Read the following statements carefully and answer the question.
Statements:
1. All teachers are educated.
2. Some educated people are not disciplined.
Which of the following conclusions is definitely true?
A) All teachers are disciplined.
B) Some teachers are not disciplined.
C) Either all teachers are disciplined OR some teachers are not disciplined.
D) No teacher is educated.
Statements:
1. All teachers are educated.
2. Some educated people are writers.
Conclusion: Some teachers are writers.
Is the conclusion valid?
Exam Q 32022Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. No reptiles are mammals.
2. All snakes are reptiles.
Conclusion: No snakes are mammals.
Is the conclusion valid?
Exam Q 42022Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. All flowers are plants.
2. Some plants are green.
3. All green things are living.
Conclusion: Either all flowers are living, or some flowers are not living.
Is the conclusion valid?
Exam Q 52022Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. All doctors are professionals.
2. No professionals are unemployed.
Conclusion: All doctors are employed.
Is the conclusion valid?
Exam Q 62022Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. Some athletes are vegetarians.
2. All vegetarians are health-conscious.
Conclusion: Some athletes are health-conscious.
Is the conclusion valid?
Exam Q 72022Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. All athletes are disciplined.
2. No lazy people are disciplined.
3. Some students are lazy.
Conclusion: Some students are not athletes.
Which of the following is true?
Exam Q 82022Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. All engineers are problem-solvers.
2. Some problem-solvers are not innovators.
Conclusion: Some engineers are not innovators.
Which of the following is true?
Exam Q 92022Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. No reptiles are mammals.
2. All snakes are reptiles.
3. Some cold-blooded animals are snakes.
Conclusion: Either some cold-blooded animals are not mammals, or all cold-blooded animals are mammals.
Which of the following is true?
Exam Q 102022Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. All doctors are educated.
2. Some educated people are not wealthy.
3. All wealthy people are confident.
Conclusion: Some doctors are not confident.
Which of the following is true?
Exam Q 112022Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. All musicians are creative.
2. Some creative people are not successful.
3. All successful people are confident.
Conclusion: Either some musicians are not successful, or all musicians are confident.
Which of the following is true?
Exam Q 122022Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. All philosophers are critical thinkers.
2. Some critical thinkers are not scientists.
3. No scientist is a philosopher.
Which of the following conclusions is/are valid?
I. Some philosophers are not scientists.
II. All critical thinkers are philosophers.
III. Either all scientists are critical thinkers or no scientist is a critical thinker.
Exam Q 132022Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. All athletes are disciplined.
2. Some disciplined people are not coaches.
3. All coaches are leaders.
Which conclusion logically follows?
I. Some athletes are not coaches.
II. Some leaders are athletes.
III. No athlete is a coach.
Exam Q 142022Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. No introvert is an extrovert.
2. All extroverts are social.
3. Some social people are introverts.
Which of the following must be true?
I. Some social people are not extroverts.
II. All introverts are social.
III. Either all introverts are social or no introvert is social.
Exam Q 152022Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. All researchers are analytical.
2. No analytical person is impulsive.
3. Some impulsive people are creative.
4. All creative people are innovative.
Which conclusion is necessarily true?
I. No researcher is impulsive.
II. Some innovative people are not analytical.
III. Either all creative people are analytical or no creative person is analytical.
Concept Notes
Syllogism— Rules & Concept
💡
Core Concept
Read this first — the foundation of the topic
→Core Concept
A syllogism has two or more statements followed by conclusions. You must check if the conclusions logically follow from the statements, ignoring what you know about the real world
💡Key Rules
(1) Accept all statements as true, even if they seem wrong in reality. (2) Use only the given information. (3) Draw conclusions based purely on logical connections. (4) 'Some' means 'at least one but not all'. (5) 'All' means '100% without exception'
🔑Venn Diagram Method
This is the most reliable approach. Draw circles to represent each category mentioned in statements. Overlap circles based on relationships given in statements. Check if conclusions match your diagram.
📊
Exam Patterns
What examiners ask — read before attempting PYQs
📋SSC CGL typically asks
(1) Statement-Conclusion type (2-3 statements, 2-4 conclusions to verify) (2) Only conclusion follows questions (3) Possibility-based conclusions. Most questions use words like All, Some, No, Few.
Shortcut Formula #1 - Conversion Rule: 'All A are B' can be converted to 'Some B are A'. But 'All A are B' cannot be converted to 'All B are A'.
Shortcut Formula #2 - Negative Conclusions: If both statements are positive, the conclusion cannot be negative. If one statement is negative, the conclusion must be negative
✏️Worked Example 1
Statements: (1) All roses are flowers (2) Some flowers are red
Conclusions: (I) Some roses are red (II) All red things are flowers
Solution: Draw three circles - Roses (inside Flowers circle), Flowers (big circle), Red (overlapping with Flowers). From the diagram, roses and red may or may not overlap. Conclusion I is 'possible but not definite' - so FALSE. Conclusion II says all red are flowers, but statement 2 only says some flowers are red, not the reverse - so FALSE
→Answer
Neither conclusion follows
✏️Worked Example 2
Statements: (1) No cats are dogs (2) All cats are animals
Conclusions: (I) No dogs are cats (II) Some animals are cats
Solution: Draw separate circles for cats and dogs (no overlap due to 'No'). Draw animals circle containing cats circle completely
→Conclusion I
'No dogs are cats' is the same as 'No cats are dogs' - TRUE
→Conclusion II
Since all cats are animals, definitely some animals are cats - TRUE
→Answer
Both conclusions follow.
Trick #3 - Possibility Conclusions: When a conclusion uses 'Some X can be Y' or 'X is a possibility', it's asking if the relationship is possible, not definite. Even if something is not proven definite, it might still be possible.
Common Mistake #1: Students use real-world knowledge instead of logical reasoning. For example, if given 'All books are tigers', students reject it as impossible. In syllogism, you must accept this as true for that question and proceed logically
⚡Time-Saving Approach
For statement-conclusion questions, quickly eliminate obviously wrong conclusions first. Look for direct contradictions with statements. Then use Venn diagrams only for remaining conclusions. This saves precious exam time.
Medium/Definite Rule: If conclusion says 'definitely' or uses strong words like 'certainly', it needs 100% proof from statements.
If it says 'can be' or 'possible', it needs only logical possibility, not certainty.
Key Points to Remember
Accept all statements as true regardless of real-world logic
Use Venn diagrams to visualize relationships between categories
Formula: 'All A are B' converts to 'Some B are A' but not 'All B are A'
Rule: If both statements are positive, conclusion cannot be negative
Some means 'at least one but not all', All means '100% without exception'
Possibility conclusions need logical possibility, not definite proof
No real-world knowledge should influence your logical reasoning
Trick: Check direct contradictions with statements to eliminate wrong conclusions quickly
Formula: One negative statement makes the conclusion negative
Time-saver: Eliminate obviously wrong conclusions before drawing Venn diagrams
Exam-Specific Tips
Syllogism appears in every SSC CGL paper with 4-5 questions guaranteed
Statement-conclusion type is the most common format in SSC exams
Venn diagram method has 95% accuracy rate for solving syllogisms
Words 'All, Some, No, Few' appear in 90% of SSC syllogism questions
Possibility-based conclusions appear in 30% of recent SSC papers
Conversion rule: 'All A are B' always converts to 'Some B are A'
Two positive statements can never yield a negative conclusion
SSC typically gives 2-3 statements with 2-4 conclusions to verify
60-Second Revision — Syllogism
Remember: Accept all statements as true, ignore real-world knowledge
Formula: All A→B converts to Some B→A, not All B→A
Trap: Using real-world logic instead of pure logical reasoning
Method: Use Venn diagrams for visual clarity and accuracy
Rule: Positive statements cannot produce negative conclusions
Trick: Eliminate contradictory conclusions first to save time
Focus: 'Some' = at least one, 'All' = 100%, 'Possible' = logically feasible