Syllogism & Inequality: Your Easiest Guaranteed Marks in Bank Prelims
Learn to crack bank-exam Syllogism and Inequality with two simple mental pictures — circles inside circles and weights on a scale. This explainer teaches the four statement types, the free conversion shortcuts, the 3-step Venn method, and the sign-combining rules for direct and coded inequalities, including the exam-favourite 'either-or' trick, with fully worked examples aimed at fast, negative-marking-safe marks.
By the PadhoDost Team · 📖 7 min read · Updated 4 August 2026
Part of Banking (IBPS / SBI) prep🧠 Circles within circles, weights on a scale
Picture the big joint-family photo at a cousin's wedding. Everyone standing in the 'cousins' group is also inside the larger 'family' circle. Draw that as a small circle sitting fully inside a big circle, and you have just solved a syllogism. Inequality is the same idea with a weighing scale: who is heavier, who is lighter, who is exactly equal. Learn to draw the circles and read the scale, dost, and you pocket 8-10 almost-guaranteed marks in the reasoning section.
Here is the bank-prelims reality: you get roughly 35 reasoning questions in about 20 minutes, and every wrong answer costs you 0.25 marks. So you want topics where a trained student is 100% sure, not 70% guessing. Syllogism (usually 3-5 questions) and Inequality (usually 3-5 questions) are exactly that — pure logic, no long calculation, no ambiguity once you know the rules. These are your bankable, negative-marking-safe marks. Let us lock them in.
Part 1: Syllogism — statements and conclusions
In syllogism you are given 2 (sometimes 3) statements that you MUST assume are true, even if they sound absurd. If it says 'All chairs are dogs', you simply accept it and move on — never use your real-world knowledge. Then you decide which of the given conclusions definitely follows. Every statement is built from just four sentence types, so once you know these four, you know the whole topic.
| Statement type | Example | What the circles look like |
|---|---|---|
| All A are B | All apples are fruits | Small A circle sits fully inside B |
| No A is B | No apple is a stone | A and B circles never touch |
| Some A are B | Some apples are red | The two circles overlap a little |
| Some A are not B | Some apples are not sweet | Part of A lies outside B |
The 3-step Venn method
- 1Draw the statements exactly as given, using the picture with the LEAST overlap first (circles touching only as much as the statements force).
- 2Check each conclusion against your picture: is it true in EVERY valid arrangement you can draw? If yes, it definitely follows.
- 3If a conclusion fails in even one valid picture, it does NOT follow. For a 'possibility' or 'can be' conclusion, flip the test: it follows if it can be true in at least one valid picture.
📝 Worked example — spot the trap
Statements: All roses are flowers. Some flowers are red.
Conclusion I: Some roses are red.
Conclusion II: Some flowers are roses.
Draw it: a small 'roses' circle fully inside 'flowers'. The 'red' circle overlaps 'flowers' — but you are free to slide that red patch so it touches only the non-rose part of flowers.
Check I: the red part need NOT touch roses, so 'Some roses are red' is not certain. Conclusion I does not follow.
Check II: 'All roses are flowers' converts to 'Some flowers are roses' — always true. Conclusion II follows.
Answer: Only Conclusion II follows.
The 'either-or' rule (examiners love it): sometimes neither conclusion follows on its own, yet the two conclusions are about the SAME pair and are complementary — for example 'Some A are B' and 'No A is B', or 'All A are B' and 'Some A are not B'. Each such pair covers every possible case between them, so exactly one must be true. When you see that pattern and neither is individually certain, mark 'Either I or II follows'.
Part 2: Inequality — reading the signs
Direct inequality hands you a chain like A > B >= C and asks about A versus C. The whole game is joining the signs correctly. Coded inequality is the same thing wearing a disguise: symbols like @, %, $ stand for >, <, =, and so on, so you first decode them into real signs and then apply the exact same combining rules.
| Chain | Valid conclusion | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A > B > C | A > C | same direction, both strict |
| A > B >= C | A > C | one strict > wins the chain |
| A >= B >= C | A >= C | no strict sign, so it stays >= |
| A = B >= C | A >= C | equal, then >= |
| A > B < C | No relation | signs oppose, the chain breaks |
📝 Worked example — coded inequality
Codes: 'P % Q' means P > Q; 'P $ Q' means P = Q; 'P @ Q' means P >= Q; 'P (c) Q' means P <= Q.
Statements: A @ B, B $ C. Find A versus C.
Decode: A @ B is A >= B, and B $ C is B = C.
Combine: A >= B = C, so A >= C.
So 'A >= C' definitely follows — but 'A > C' alone would NOT follow, because A and C could be equal.
📝 The either-or trick in inequality (very common)
Statement: P >= Q = R.
Conclusion I: P > R. Conclusion II: P = R.
Combine: P >= Q = R gives P >= R, which means P > R OR P = R.
Neither I nor II is certain on its own, both are about the same pair (P and R), and together they cover every case.
Answer: Either I or II follows.
60-second revision before the exam
- ✓Syllogism: accept every statement as true, draw the least-overlap circles, and a conclusion follows only if it is true in every possible picture.
- ✓Learn conversions: All flips to Some, No flips to No, Some flips to Some — but 'Some-not' never flips.
- ✓Inequality: join signs only in the same direction; one strict sign in a clean chain makes the whole answer strict.
- ✓A > that meets a < in the middle = No relation. Move on instantly.
- ✓Either-or: two conclusions on the same pair that are complementary (e.g. > and =) with neither individually true — mark 'either-or'.
- ✓Target 30-40 seconds per question. These are safe marks; do not overthink and do not gamble against the 0.25 penalty.
⚡ Quick check
Statements: P < Q >= R > S. Which conclusion is definitely true?
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