Great question. Sufficient and necessary conditions appear on all sorts of types of questions, so there is no one particular one to look out for.
Because they appear so much on the LSAT in so many different question types, the best thing you can do to prepare is to practice diagramming statements that contain conditional logic using sufficient and necessary statements, That way, once you're answering questions, you will automatically know when you need to diagram and when you don't have to.
If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend watching Mehran's video on sufficient and necessary conditions. It's also important to have a strong understanding of these concepts because one common answer choice is "confuses the sufficient condition for the necessary one" or some paraphrasing of that. This answer choice can sound good, but it's often a trap answer, and having a good understanding of sufficient and necessary conditions will help you to parse out when it's a good answer choice and when it's a bad one.
Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any more questions!
oebodaon January 2, 2019
Im just struggling to know when I need to implement these techniques because I know how to do it,
Ravion January 3, 2019
@oeboda,
That's great that you're comfortable in diagramming S + N. The thing is, when you use these techniques is largely dependent upon your personal preference. It is often extremely helpful to diagram on problems, but sometimes it's unnecessary and can cost you precious time. As you practice questions more and more, you will develop a natural ability to sense when you feel like you should diagram vs. when you shouldn't. Often, your gut reaction is right, as it's telling you that you should or shouldn't do something because your brain is either figuring stuff out without diagramming or it isn't and it's telling you that diagramming might help.
I will say that when you encounter questions that have tons of conditional logic, then it's almost always useful to diagram. That's one occasion where diagramming is nearly universally beneficial (when you have a bunch of conditional statements to parse through).
Does that make sense? Let us know if you have any other questions.
oebodaon January 3, 2019
I understand what you are saying, but what I have noticed is that the two types of questions sufficient and necessary covers is parallel reasoning/flawed, and must be true questions am I correct about this.
Ravion January 5, 2019
@oeboda,
You're correct in that sufficient and necessary often appear in parallel reasoning, flawed parallel reasoning questions, and must be true questions, but these are not the only three question types that sufficient and necessary appear on.
I recommend watching Mehran's video lesson on sufficient and necessary again and paying close attention to the keywords that signify the introduction of a sufficient or necessary condition. Knowing these keywords well will make it so that you can easily identify when you see conditional logic that contains sufficient and necessary conditions in different question types.
As mentioned, sufficient and necessary can appear on any question type, so it's important you're comfortable with being able to easily identify sufficient and necessary conditions when you see them.
