IBPS PO / SBI PO Reasoning Ability Syllabus

In Direction and Distance, what are the four primary and four ordinal directions?

Primary: North, South, East, West. Ordinal (intercardinal): North-East, South-East, South-West, North-West.

In linear seating arrangement, what is the difference between a single row 'all facing North' and a double row 'facing each other'?

In a single row facing North, the person's left is West and right is East (left-right is uniform). In double rows facing each other, the two rows have mirror-image left/right, and 'opposite' pairs face one another.

In a single line of people all facing North, if A is to the immediate right of B, what is A's position relative to the viewer?

Since they face North, the person's right is the viewer's left side. A sits on B's right (East side), which appears on the observer's left when looking at the row from the front (i.e., from South).

In circular arrangement, when all members face the centre, how are 'left' and 'right' oriented relative to clockwise?

When facing the centre, a person's left is the clockwise direction and right is the anti-clockwise direction.

In circular arrangement, when all members face OUTWARD (away from centre), how do left/right relate to clockwise?

When facing outward, a person's right is clockwise and left is anti-clockwise (reverse of facing-centre).

In a rectangular/square arrangement seating with people on all four sides facing the centre, how many corner vs middle positions are typical?

In a common 8-person square setup: 4 sit at the corners and 4 sit at the middle of each side, all facing the centre; corner people often have a different left/right line of sight than middle people.

In floor puzzles, if a building has floors numbered 1 (bottom) to 7 (top), what does 'A lives immediately above B' mean numerically?

A's floor number = B's floor number + 1.

In floor/box puzzles, what is the key difference between 'immediately above' and 'above' (anywhere above)?

'Immediately above' means exactly one floor higher (adjacent). 'Above' means any floor higher, not necessarily adjacent.

In scheduling/day puzzles based on a week, list the seven days in order and identify which are commonly used as the 'first' and 'last' day.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Conventionally Monday is treated as first and Sunday as last (unless the question specifies otherwise).

In month-based scheduling puzzles, which months have 30 days and which have 31?

30 days: April, June, September, November. 31 days: January, March, May, July, August, October, December. February has 28 (29 in a leap year).

In a day-puzzle, if an event is 'three days after Wednesday', what day is it?

Saturday (Wed + 3 = Thu, Fri, Sat).

In categorisation/tabular puzzles, what is the recommended first step before placing variables?

Identify the categories/parameters (rows and columns), count the number of entities, and start with the most definite (100% certain) clues to anchor the table.

In Coding-Decoding, what is 'letter-shifting' coding? Give the rule for a +1 shift.

Each letter is replaced by another a fixed number of places ahead/behind in the alphabet. For +1 shift: A→B, B→C, ..., Z→A (forward by one).

In Coding-Decoding, what is the numeric position of letters A, M, N, and Z in the alphabet?

A = 1, M = 13, N = 14, Z = 26.

In Coding-Decoding, what is the 'opposite/reverse' (EJOTY-style mirror) letter of A, and how is it found?

Mirror of A is Z. Rule: mirror position = 27 − position. So A(1)→Z(26), B(2)→Y(25), M(13)→N(14).

What is the EJOTY trick used in coding and series questions?

EJOTY gives quick alphabet positions: E=5, J=10, O=15, T=20, Y=25. From these you can count to find any letter's number quickly.

In new-pattern (machine) Coding-Decoding, what is the general approach to decode word-based codes?

Compare statements sharing a common word to map that word to its code, eliminate matched codes, and deduce remaining word-code pairs by cross-referencing multiple sentences.

In Order and Ranking, what is the formula for total number of people when someone is Nth from the top and Mth from the bottom?

Total = N + M − 1 (the person is counted once in both rankings, so subtract 1).

In Order and Ranking, if A is 7th from the left and 12th from the right in a row, how many people are in the row?

7 + 12 − 1 = 18 people.

In Order and Ranking, to find a person's rank from the other end given total: rank from right = ?

Rank from right = (Total − rank from left) + 1.

In alphanumeric series, what does it mean to find 'how many letters are immediately preceded by a number and followed by a symbol'?

You scan the sequence and count each letter that has a digit just before it and a symbol just after it (the three positions must occur consecutively in that order).

In Data Sufficiency, what does the answer 'Statement I alone is sufficient but II alone is not' require?

Statement I, by itself, fully answers the question with a unique/definite result, while Statement II alone cannot give a definite answer.

In Data Sufficiency, what does 'both statements together are sufficient, but neither alone' mean?

Neither I nor II individually yields a definite answer, but combining the information from both produces a unique, definite answer.

In Data Sufficiency, why should you NOT actually compute the final numerical answer?

The task is only to judge whether the data is enough to answer, not to solve it. Determining sufficiency (uniqueness of answer) is the goal, saving time.

In Input-Output machine reasoning, what is the meaning of a 'step' and how is the final step identified?

A step is one pass of the machine's rearrangement of the input. The final step (last step) is reached when no further rearrangement is possible — the arrangement becomes stable.

In Input-Output reasoning, what are the common types of operations a machine performs?

Shifting/arranging words alphabetically, arranging numbers in ascending/descending order, swapping positions, and applying mathematical operations to numbers — typically one element moved per step from either end.

In Logical Sequence, how do you solve a 'logical order of words' question (e.g., Seed, Tree, Fruit, Plant)?

Arrange the words in their natural/chronological or size/process order. Example: Seed → Plant → Tree → Fruit (the life-cycle sequence).

In Analogy, what is the relationship type in 'Doctor : Hospital :: Teacher : School'?

Worker-to-workplace relationship (person : place where they work). The analogy maps a professional to their typical work location.

In Critical Reasoning, what is an 'assumption' and how does it differ from an 'inference'?

An assumption is something taken for granted/unstated that the argument depends on (it precedes the conclusion). An inference is a conclusion logically drawn FROM the given statements (it follows the information).

In Critical/Passage reasoning, what makes a 'valid conclusion' from a passage?

A valid conclusion must follow logically and definitely from the information stated in the passage, without adding outside knowledge, assumptions, or extreme generalisations.

In Non-Verbal series and figures, what are the common transformation rules to look for?

Rotation (clockwise/anti-clockwise by fixed degrees), reflection/mirror, addition or deletion of elements, change in shading/size, and movement of elements along a fixed path — identify the consistent rule across the figure sequence.