Logical Reasoning

“because”

premise indicator.

“for”

premise indicator.

“since”

premise indicator.

“as”

premise indicator.

“given that”

premise indicator.

What is a premise?

A stated fact, piece of evidence, or reason that an author explicitly offers to support or prove a conclusion.

What is a conclusion?

The main claim or point that an author is trying to prove, receiving support from other statements but does not itself provide support for any other claim in the argument.

What is a core element?

A part of a sentence that cannot be removed without destroying all grammatical sense of reason.

What is an optional element?

A piece of a sentence that can be removed without any bad grammatical consequences.

What is a valid conclusion?

A statement that must be true if the premises provided in the argument are true.

What is an inference?

A valid conclusion you design yourself, not a conclusion in the argument.