Negating Conditional Statements

To logically negate a conditional statement,
negate the necessary condition.
To negate a conditional statement you must show that the necessary condition is
not in fact necessary. For example, “To be rich, you must be smart” becomes
“To be rich, you do not necessarily have to be smart.” Assumption question
answer choices containing conditional answer choices occur frequently on the
LSAT and you must understand how to properly negate them.
It is also worth noting that the logical negation of a conditional statement is
different than the Mistaken Negation of that statement. The Mistaken Negation
is a failed inference that follows from negating both sides of the statement. A
logical negation negates just the necessary condition in an attempt to produce
the opposite of the statement. Example:
Original Statement: If A occurs, then B occurs.
Diagram: A-----------> B
Logical Negation: A-----------> B
Mistaken Negation: A-----------> B