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CLAT Logical Reasoning Syllabus: Question Types and Methods

Assumption, inference, strengthen, weaken, flaw and method — what each looks like on the paper, and the test that cracks each one.

· Updated

Part of the CLAT 2027 guide

CLAT’s Logical Reasoning is argument analysis from short passages — roughly 22–26 questions. Below are useful question types to practise, not an exhaustive promise about the paper.

Before the list: the published syllabus emphasises passage-based argument analysis. Prioritise those skills rather than treating generic puzzle drills as the syllabus.

Main conclusion

What is the author ultimately arguing?

The test: ask “and therefore what?” of each candidate sentence. Find the overall claim the author wants you to accept. An intermediate conclusion can also support a later claim, so distinguish the main conclusion from supporting steps.

Assumption

What must be true, though unstated, for the argument to work?

The test — negation. Negate the option. If the argument collapses, it was a necessary assumption. If the argument survives, it was not.

Use this for necessary assumptions. A question asking for a sufficient assumption has a different task: finding a premise that makes the conclusion follow.

Strengthen

Which new fact makes the conclusion more likely?

The test: find the gap between evidence and conclusion, and ask which option narrows it. Usually by ruling out an alternative explanation.

Weaken

Which new fact makes the conclusion less likely?

The test: the same gap, widened. Most commonly by supplying an alternative cause.

Note that weakening is not contradicting. An option that simply asserts the opposite conclusion is not an argument against it.

Inference

What follows from the passage?

The test: could this be false while everything in the passage is true? If yes, it is not an inference. As in English, match the strength of the answer to the evidence. For a best-supported inference, assess support rather than demanding deductive certainty.

Flaw in the reasoning

What is wrong with the argument?

The recurring ones are worth knowing by name:

  • Correlation treated as causation
  • Unrepresentative sample — generalising from too few, or from a skewed group
  • False dilemma — presenting two options when others exist
  • Circular reasoning — assuming what is to be proved
  • Ad hominem — attacking the arguer rather than the argument
  • Equivocation — using one word in two senses

Method or structure

How does the argument proceed — by analogy, by counter-example, by conceding a point and then qualifying it?

The test: describe the paragraph’s job, ignoring its subject entirely.

Parallel reasoning

Which option’s argument has the same structure as the passage’s? Strip both to their skeletons — if A then B; A; therefore B — and ignore the content.

The habit underneath these types

State the argument in one sentence before reading the options: “The author concludes X, because Y.” Nearly every type above becomes tractable once you have.

Where to go next

Sources and scope

Official references checked on 18 September 2026. Study routines and teaching examples are editorial suggestions, not official requirements.

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