Study Material — 12 PYQs (2023–2023) · Concept Notes · Shortcuts
SSC GD Constable Syllogism is a frequently tested subtopic — 12 previous year questions from 2023–2023 papers are included below with concept notes, key rules and shortcut tricks.
Statements:
1. No reptiles are mammals.
2. All snakes are reptiles.
Conclusion: No snakes are mammals.
Is the conclusion valid?
Exam Q 32023Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. Some athletes are strong.
2. All strong people are healthy.
Conclusion: Some athletes are healthy.
Is the conclusion valid?
Exam Q 42023Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. All birds can fly.
2. Penguins are birds.
Conclusion: Penguins can fly.
Is the conclusion valid according to the premises?
Exam Q 52023Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. All fruits are healthy.
2. Some healthy things are expensive.
Conclusion: Either all fruits are expensive OR some fruits are not expensive.
Is the conclusion valid?
Exam Q 62023Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. No criminals are honest.
2. All dishonest people are criminals.
Conclusion: All dishonest people are criminals.
Is the conclusion valid?
Exam Q 72023Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. All honest people are trustworthy.
2. No dishonest people are trustworthy.
3. Some employees are dishonest.
Conclusion: Either all employees are honest, or some employees are not trustworthy.
Which of the following is true?
Exam Q 82023Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. Some athletes are not disciplined.
2. All disciplined people are successful.
Conclusion: Some athletes are not successful.
Which of the following is true?
Exam Q 92023Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. All fruits are nutritious.
2. No junk foods are nutritious.
3. Some items in the cafeteria are junk foods.
Conclusion: Some items in the cafeteria are not fruits.
Which of the following is true?
Exam Q 102023Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. All poets are creative.
2. Some creative people are not writers.
3. All writers are professionals.
Conclusion: Either some poets are not writers, or all poets are writers.
Which of the following is true?
Exam Q 112023Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. No reptiles are mammals.
2. All snakes are reptiles.
Conclusion: No snakes are mammals.
Which of the following is true?
Exam Q 122023Previous Year Pattern
Statements:
1. All teachers are educated.
2. Some educated people are not disciplined.
Conclusion: Some teachers are not disciplined.
Which of the following is true?
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
Practice MCQs
Syllogism — Practice Questions
6graded MCQs · easy to hard · full solution & trap analysis
Statements:
1. All philosophers are rational thinkers.
2. Some rational thinkers are not disciplined.
3. No disciplined person is irrational.
Which of the following conclusions is definitely true?
A) All philosophers are disciplined.
B) Some philosophers are not disciplined.
C) No philosopher is disciplined.
D) Either all philosophers are disciplined OR some philosophers are not disciplined.
Practice 2hard
Statements:
1. No corrupt official is trustworthy.
2. All judges are trustworthy.
3. Some government employees are corrupt officials.
Which conclusion is definitely valid?
A) All judges are government employees.
B) Some government employees are not judges.
C) All government employees are judges.
D) Some judges are corrupt officials.
Practice 3hard
Statements:
1. All artists are creative individuals.
2. No creative individual is narrow-minded.
3. Some narrow-minded people are successful.
4. All successful people are ambitious.
Which of the following must be true?
A) Some artists are narrow-minded.
B) No artist is narrow-minded.
C) Some ambitious people are not creative.
D) All narrow-minded people are unsuccessful.
Practice 4hard
Statements:
1. Some politicians are honest.
2. All honest people are respected.
3. No respected person is corrupt.
4. Some politicians are corrupt.
Which conclusion is definitely valid?
A) All politicians are honest.
B) Some politicians are not honest.
C) All corrupt people are dishonest.
D) Some honest people are politicians.
Practice 5hard
Statements:
1. All engineers are problem-solvers.
2. Some problem-solvers are not innovative.
3. No non-innovative person is a leader.
4. All leaders are confident.
Which of the following is definitely true?
A) All engineers are leaders.
B) Some engineers are not confident.
C) No engineer is a leader.
D) Either all engineers are confident OR some engineers are not confident.
Practice 6hard
Statements:
1. All athletes are disciplined.
2. Some disciplined people are not wealthy.
3. No wealthy person is lazy.
4. All lazy people are unhappy.
Which conclusion must be true?
A) Some athletes are unhappy.
B) All athletes are happy.
C) Some athletes are not wealthy.
D) No athlete is lazy.
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