155 comments

  • 17 hours ago

    can someone explain using a different indicator

    for example

    "I cannot have fun without wine"

    I tried to create my own statement and my brain is doing crazy things

    1
  • Edited 5 days ago

    Why is it okay for the order of the argument to be flipped from A-->B to B-->A (at minute 4)? I thought that wasn't allowed unless we're taking the contrapositive.

    1
  • Wednesday, Feb 25

    Guys I gotchu. I figured it out. Basically every time we flip the contrapositive it worked for both claims before but now for Group 3, once you flip them, one of the flips won't be logical. When you get your translated sentences figure out which one makes sense.

    "Blackouts will occur unless the heat wave abates"

    We did the whole translation and now we have...

    "If the heat wave doesn't abate, then blackouts will occur"

    "If the heat wave abates, then blackouts will not occur"

    Its basically an extra step of thinking which one makes the more sense. Like literally just think.... blackouts might still happen if a heat wave goes down. There are so many situations for a blackout, a measly heat wave going away doesn't guarantee that blackouts will not occur. For the others both translations worked and for this one only one of the translations works. I THINK.

    (You can downvote me if I'm wrong I won't take it personally lol)

    3
  • Wednesday, Feb 25

    It is easy enough to understand that if the heat wave doesn't lessen, then blackouts will occur. What I cannot understand is if blackouts don't occur, then the heat wave lessens. Why is the heat wave lessening dependent on blackouts not occurring?

    1
  • Saturday, Feb 21

    I wish they would provide examples of how the LSAT tests this Negate sufficient..

    3
  • Wednesday, Feb 18
    • Example #1: “Blackouts will occur unless the heat waves abates.”

      • Translation Step 1: Identify the conditional indicator: The word “unless” is our identifiable conditional indicator. 

      • Step 2: Identify the two main concepts (or groups, categories, events, or ideas): Blackouts will occur(first concept) and the other unless the heat waves abate (second concept).

      • Step 3: Assign Symbols to the main concepts: /BO → HWA → IF THE HEAT WAVE DOESN'T ABATE --> BLACK OUT OCCURS.

      • Step 4: Apply the translation rule LAWGIC: /BO → HWA

      • CONTRAPOSITIVE: /(HWA) → BO

      • Translating back to english: “If the heat wave doesn’t abate, then blackouts will occur.”

    1
  • Sunday, Feb 08

    oh dear my brain cannot wrap around this

    10
  • Wednesday, Feb 04

    Just have to stress the importance of this, I have come back to this lesson multiple times. Once you get to actual questions with unless it can be so confusing, DO NOT FORGET THIS

    4
  • Tuesday, Feb 03

    I'm confused as to why we bother with the contrapositive if it doesn't matter which clause we choose and arrive at the same meaning either way

    1
  • Tuesday, Feb 03

    so either clause has the ability to become the sufficient condition?

    1
  • Tuesday, Jan 27

    God help me

    17
  • Monday, Jan 26

    this one was fun

    4
  • Wednesday, Jan 21

    i still don't entirely understand how they are different.

    1
  • Wednesday, Jan 21

    I don't understand how the two conclusions aren't the same.

    I understand how "If the heat wave doesn't abate, then blackouts will occur" makes sense.

    "If the heat wave abates, then blackouts will not occur." I don't understand how that doesn't make sense.

    Can anyone explain? The video explaining is not really helping me

    1
  • Sunday, Jan 18

    Wow, this one was a little tricky to wrap my head around to be honest!

    2
  • Wednesday, Jan 14

    Am I understanding correctly that the answer to the question "Does that statement mean 'If the heat wave doesn't abate, then blackouts will occur" or does it mean "If the heat wave abates, then blackouts will not occur?'" is that the statement means both?

    1
  • Sunday, Jan 11

    This is the first example where my brain felt like it was getting stretched. The other groups and example made sense, but now this one is making me aware of how the logic can be very different with the use of just one word.

    5
  • Thursday, Jan 08

    Are these indicators also underinclusive?

    2
  • Wednesday, Jan 07

    Negate Sufficient Indicators:

    1. or

    2. unless

    3. until

    4. without

    Blackouts will occur unless the heat wave abates.

    Pick either idea, then negate that idea (blackouts will occur), then make that the sufficient condition.

    /BO -->

    The other idea is the necessary condition.

    --> HWA

    So now:

    /BO --> HWA

    /(Blackouts will occur) --> (The heat wave abates)

    Contrapositive:

    /HWA --> BO

    /(The heat wave abates) --> (Blackouts will occur)

    This means the heat waves DOES NOT abate --> blackout will occur.

    3
  • Monday, Jan 05

    I always interpret “unless” as “if not.”

    1
  • Sunday, Jan 04

    Magic

    1
  • Sunday, Dec 28 2025

    I'm confused about the time tenses in these translations back into English. Shouldn't the /BO -> /HWA translation be "If blackouts don't occur, then the heat waves have abated" rather than "then the heat wave abates"? Not sure if this is too extraneous, but I am a bit confused.

    1
  • Edited Sunday, Dec 21 2025

    Instead of using sufficiency but necessity, maybe "only unless" not "unless", would this make both options correct?

    1
  • Tuesday, Dec 16 2025

    this may be one of the single most enlightening lessons on the entire site

    4
  • Friday, Dec 05 2025

    It will snow, unless the clouds are blue

    Step 1) Unless is the conditional indicator

    Step 2) Identify the 2 conditions

    • Condition 1: It will snow

    • Condition 2: Unless the clouds are blue

    Step 3:

    • Condition 1: Snow

    • Condition 2: Blue

    Translation rule

    Step 1) Select 1 of the ideas

    • It will snow

    Step 2) Negate the idea

    • It will not snow

    • /snow

    Step 3) Make that the sufficient idea

    • /snow -> blue

    • It will not snow, unless the clouds are blue

    Step 4) Take the contrapositive

    • /blue -> Snow

    • If the clouds are not blue, than it will snow

    4

Confirm action

Are you sure?