# Only a Few Syllogism Questions — Rule, Diagram and Practice | DeducePuzzles > Only a few syllogism questions explained: “Only a few A are B” means some A are B and some are not. The diagram, what follows, and free verified practice. Source: https://deducepuzzles.com/reasoning/only-a-few-syllogism --- ## Only a few syllogism questions — the two-part rule, with verified practice “Only a few” arrived in the new-pattern syllogism sets of IBPS and SBI papers and now appears in most mains-level sets. It is easy marks once the two-part meaning is automatic, and a trap when it is read as a plain “some”: the hidden “some are not” half is exactly what the wrong options rely on you forgetting. Start with the [basic syllogism rules](https://deducepuzzles.com/reasoning/syllogism) if the four standard statements are not yet second nature. ### How to solve only a few syllogism questions, step by step - Split the statement into its two halves Rewrite “Only a few A are B” as two lines before you draw anything: “Some A are B” and “Some A are not B”. Every later step works on these two ordinary statements, which you already know how to handle. - Draw both regions as definitely occupied Draw A overlapping B, then mark two regions as non-empty: the part of A inside B, and the part of A outside B. Unlike a plain “some”, the diagram where A sits wholly inside B is not allowed. - Chain each half separately Take the next statement and combine it with each half on its own. With “All B are C”, the inside half gives “Some A are C”. With “No B are C”, the inside half gives “Some A are not C”. - Strike out the universal and its possibility Because some A are definitely not B, “All A are B” can never be true, so it does not follow and nor does “All A being B is a possibility”. “No A are B” fails too, because some A definitely are B. - Check an “only a few” conclusion against both halves When the conclusion itself says “Only a few A are C”, it follows only if “Some A are C” AND “Some A are not C” are both definite from the statements. One definite half is not enough. ### What an only a few statement proves | Statements | What follows | | --- | --- | | Only a few A are B | Some A are B · Some A are not B · Some B are A | | Only a few A are B | Not “All A are B”, not “No A are B”, not “All A being B is a possibility” | | Only a few A are B · All B are C | Some A are C (the A inside B is inside C) | | Only a few A are B · No B are C | Some A are not C (the A inside B is outside C) | | All A are B · Only a few B are C | Some C are B — but nothing definite between A and C | ### Practise only a few syllogism right now Every question below was generated by the same engine that mints the DeducePuzzles daily puzzle, and machine-proven to have exactly one correct answer before it reached this page. The walkthrough is the engine's own, step for step. #### Question 1 Take the three statements to be true even if they differ from commonly known facts, then decide which conclusion logically follows. Statements: Some orchids are not flowers. All flowers are marigolds. Some marigolds are lotuses. Conclusion I: Some orchids are marigolds. Conclusion II: Only a few orchids are flowers. - Only conclusion I follows - Only conclusion II follows - Either conclusion I or II follows - Neither conclusion I nor II follows - Both conclusions I and II follow - Conclusion I ("Some orchids are marigolds") need not follow — the statements allow a situation where it is false. - Conclusion II ("Only a few orchids are flowers") need not follow — the statements allow a situation where it is false. - So neither conclusion follows. #### Question 2 Take the three statements to be true even if they differ from commonly known facts, then decide which conclusion logically follows. Statements: Some dogs are not cats. No horses are dogs. Only a few cows are horses. Conclusion I: All dogs being horses is a possibility. Conclusion II: Some horses are cows. - Only conclusion I follows - Only conclusion II follows - Either conclusion I or II follows - Neither conclusion I nor II follows - Both conclusions I and II follow - Conclusion I ("All dogs being horses is a possibility") does not follow — no situation the statements allow makes it true. - Conclusion II ("Some horses are cows") is true in every situation the statements allow. - So only conclusion II follows. #### Question 3 Take the three statements to be true even if they differ from commonly known facts, then decide which conclusion logically follows. Statements: No painters are writers. No artists are painters. Only a few players are artists. Conclusion I: No writers are artists. Conclusion II: Some writers are players. - Only conclusion I follows - Only conclusion II follows - Either conclusion I or II follows - Neither conclusion I nor II follows - Both conclusions I and II follow - Conclusion I ("No writers are artists") need not follow — the statements allow a situation where it is false. - Conclusion II ("Some writers are players") need not follow — the statements allow a situation where it is false. - So neither conclusion follows. ### Common mistakes #### Reading “only a few” as a plain “some” A plain “Some A are B” allows every A to be B. “Only a few” forbids that. Treat the two as the same and you will wrongly accept “All A being B is a possibility”, a favourite distractor. #### Chaining the wrong half Only the half inside B carries forward through a statement about B. The half outside B says nothing about C at all, so “Only a few A are B · All B are C” gives no “Some A are not C”. #### Accepting an “only a few” conclusion on one half If the statements prove “Some A are C” but leave open whether every A is C, the conclusion “Only a few A are C” does not follow. Both halves must be forced. ### Keep the streak going One puzzle a day, timed on the server, with a national and state leaderboard and a streak that survives as long as you do. Practising a topic once is worth little; the aspirants who move are the ones who show up daily. [See what DeducePuzzles does](https://deducepuzzles.com/features) or [read the rules first](https://deducepuzzles.com/how-to-play). ### FAQ #### What does “only a few” mean in syllogism? “Only a few A are B” means some A are B and some A are not B, both at once. It is stronger than “some”, because it rules out the case where every A is B, and stronger than “some are not”, because it rules out the case where no A is B. #### Does “only a few A are B” give “some B are A”? Yes. Its first half, “Some A are B”, reverses safely to “Some B are A”. Its second half, “Some A are not B”, does not reverse — it tells you nothing about whether some B are not A. #### Is “all A being B is a possibility” true after an only a few statement? No. The statement guarantees that some A are outside B, so there is no diagram in which every A is inside B. With no such diagram, the possibility conclusion does not follow. #### How are only a few questions different in the exam? They mostly appear in mains-level sets with three statements and four terms, mixed with ordinary statements. The method does not change: split “only a few” into its two halves, then solve the rest exactly as a standard syllogism. ### Practise the next topic - [All reasoning topics](https://deducepuzzles.com/reasoning) — the full practice hub. - [Reasoning clue phrases: what each one actually means](https://deducepuzzles.com/reasoning/clue-phrases) — what every clue wording on this page means, exactly. - [Syllogism questions for bank exam prep](https://deducepuzzles.com/reasoning/syllogism) — syllogism practice with worked solutions. - [Either or syllogism](https://deducepuzzles.com/reasoning/either-or-syllogism) — syllogism · either–or practice with worked solutions. - [Inequality reasoning questions](https://deducepuzzles.com/reasoning/inequality) — coded inequality practice with worked solutions. - [All 34 reasoning puzzle types](https://deducepuzzles.com/reasoning-puzzle-types) — one real example of each. - [SBI reasoning: pattern, topics and a daily routine](https://deducepuzzles.com/sbi) — how to fit this into a study plan. 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