A Venn diagram is a picture of how groups fit together. One glance tells you whether things are inside each other, overlapping, or completely separate.
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Almost every AISSEE Venn question is one of these four pictures. Learn them and you can answer in five seconds.
1 · One inside another inside another
Each group is completely part of the next bigger group.
Every parrot is a bird, and every bird is an animal.
2 · Two separate groups inside a big one
Both belong to the big group, but never to each other.
Mangoes and apples are both fruits, but no mango is an apple.
3 · Overlapping groups
Some members belong to both — that is the middle bit.
Some doctors are women; some women are doctors; many are neither.
4 · Completely separate groups
Nothing at all is shared between them.
No overlap at all — these three are entirely different things.
The one question to ask: "Is every A also a B?"
You will be given three words and four pictures. Work through the words one pair at a time.
🔍 Worked example: Vegetables, Potato, Onion
So: two separate circles inside one big circle — shape 2.
The second kind of question gives you numbers inside the circles. Read the wording very carefully.
📊 In a class of 60 students
Some play cricket, some play football, and some play both.
Play cricket only = 25
just the left crescent
Play both = 10
the overlapping middle
Play cricket (in total) = 25 + 10 = 35
⚠️ "plays cricket" always includes the middle!
Play at least one = 25 + 10 + 15 = 50
so 60 − 50 = 10 play neither
The one word that decides everything: "only".
"How many play cricket?" → 25 + 10 = 35 ·
"How many play only cricket?" → 25. Read it twice before you answer.
Use the cricket / football diagram above to answer these.
10 AISSEE-style Venn diagram questions. 🍀
