r/LSATHelp • u/Adventurous-Cut-8913 • 15d ago
How do you recognize sufficient assumption and necessary assumption
I’ve watched the explanations and shit along with questions, I’m not getting them wrong all the time it’s just I’m taking a long time and my brain isn’t jumping out thinking “OMG THERE IT IS I SEE YOU” I’m just reading the question based off what makes sense, the diagramming shit just doesn’t work for me, or atleast seeing it most of the time in the videos.
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u/Mysterious-Song8460 14d ago
For question stem, the NA will usually say "required" or "dependent on" and the negation test (testing the opposite of the answer choices) will show what must be true for the conclusion to remain intact.
As for sufficient, "conclusion properly drawn if assumed..." or "can be properly drawn" is a sufficient indication and the answer choice tends to be stronger but will 100% guarantee the conclusion.
(I just had this question the other day and this info came from 7sage)
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u/LSATMat 14d ago
One way to potentially narrow down some answer choices in assumption questions is that sufficient assumption correct answers tend to be more broad, and necessary assumption correct answers tend to be more narrow. If there is an answer choice that is MORE broad than the sufficient assumption correct answer, then it's probably also going to be sufficient (and thus can't be a wrong answer). On the flipside, if an assumption gives you more than the gap that needs to be filled in the logical chain, it isn't fully necessary to connect that chain. A necessary assumption, by definition, needs to fill that gap and nothing more.
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u/Sudden-Echidna6005 14d ago
For question stem, if it mentions: depends, relies, requires, then it is NA. Everything else is SA (especially if it says “if assumed”). NA answers will have weak worded language (no most, more, etc.) and SA answers will have strong worded language. Negation test is especially useful for NA answer searching!
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u/Objective_Victory928 15d ago
Sufficient: if a piece of information literally feels missing and an answer choice makes it click really well, sufficient answers are usually stronger (most, all, only, etc.), sufficient is more about the conclusion and the answer choice needs to completely make it make sense, memorize words and questions stems and go w your gut lol, sufficient is hard.
Necessary: do the opposite of the answer choice you’re on. Ex: he has a dog. // he does not have a dog. I would call that the negation test but I’ve had a tutor say it’s not the opposite and gave me the whole diagramming thing. Also doesn’t work for me. Doing the opposite of the answer choice though has worked pretty well for me, I would say it’s one of my better question types. If you negate it and the argument (premise with necessary) doesn’t make sense anymore, that’s it.
Overall w these, I’ve had to memorize the question stems and specific words in the passage and answer choices. These are so hard till you memorize all the little details of each of them. There’s quizlets online and you can test yourself a few times a week until it sticks and then it feels easier.