What are the terms of the conclusion?

• A. The terms that appear in the premises
• B. The terms that appear in the conclusion; the minor term is the subject (S) and the major term is the predicate (P)
• C. The subject and predicate in the conclusion
• D. The terms of the premises

Answer: (B)

In a categorical syllogism there are three terms: major, minor, and middle. The conclusion uses only two terms—the major and minor; the middle term does not appear in the conclusion. Therefore, the terms of the conclusion are exactly the two terms that occur there: the subject is the minor term (S) and the predicate is the major term (P). This is why the best choice states that the terms of the conclusion are those that appear in it, with the minor term as the subject and the major term as the predicate. The other options either refer to terms from the premises (which include the middle term) or speak vaguely about subject and predicate without naming their roles as major/minor.