Normalization interview questions

24 real Normalization questions from the SQL bank, as asked in Indian campus drives and tech interviews. Every question has a verified answer and an AI-tutor explanation on placd — free to start.

1. What is First normal form?

Junior
  1. A.a constraint stating that one set of columns uniquely determines the value of another set
  2. B.a system-generated identifier with no business meaning used as the primary key in place of real attributes
  3. C.the rule requiring every column to hold a single atomic value with no repeating groups or arrays
  4. D.a relationship where a non-key column determines another non-key column, which third normal form is designed to eliminate
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3. Which statement is correct?

Junior
  1. A.First normal form — the rule that, beyond atomicity, every non-key column must depend on the whole composite key rather than only part of it
  2. B.First normal form — the rule requiring every column to hold a single atomic value with no repeating groups or arrays
  3. C.First normal form — a stricter refinement where every determinant of any dependency must itself be a candidate key
  4. D.First normal form — the deliberate reintroduction of redundancy to speed reads at the cost of extra write and consistency effort
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4. What is Second normal form?

Mid
  1. A.a relationship where a non-key column determines another non-key column, which third normal form is designed to eliminate
  2. B.a stricter refinement where every determinant of any dependency must itself be a candidate key
  3. C.a system-generated identifier with no business meaning used as the primary key in place of real attributes
  4. D.the rule that, beyond atomicity, every non-key column must depend on the whole composite key rather than only part of it
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5. Which term means: "the rule that, beyond atomicity, every non-key column must depend on the whole composite key rather than only part of it"?

Mid
  1. A.Transitive dependency
  2. B.Functional dependency
  3. C.Boyce-Codd normal form
  4. D.Second normal form
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6. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.Second normal form — the rule that, beyond atomicity, every non-key column must depend on the whole composite key rather than only part of it
  2. B.Second normal form — a system-generated identifier with no business meaning used as the primary key in place of real attributes
  3. C.Second normal form — a stricter refinement where every determinant of any dependency must itself be a candidate key
  4. D.Second normal form — the deliberate reintroduction of redundancy to speed reads at the cost of extra write and consistency effort
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7. What is Third normal form?

Mid
  1. A.the rule requiring every column to hold a single atomic value with no repeating groups or arrays
  2. B.the rule that removes transitive dependencies so non-key columns depend only on the key and not on other non-key columns
  3. C.a stricter refinement where every determinant of any dependency must itself be a candidate key
  4. D.the deliberate reintroduction of redundancy to speed reads at the cost of extra write and consistency effort
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8. Which term means: "the rule that removes transitive dependencies so non-key columns depend only on the key and not on other non-key columns"?

Mid
  1. A.Second normal form
  2. B.Third normal form
  3. C.Functional dependency
  4. D.Boyce-Codd normal form
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9. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.Third normal form — a stricter refinement where every determinant of any dependency must itself be a candidate key
  2. B.Third normal form — the deliberate reintroduction of redundancy to speed reads at the cost of extra write and consistency effort
  3. C.Third normal form — the rule that removes transitive dependencies so non-key columns depend only on the key and not on other non-key columns
  4. D.Third normal form — a system-generated identifier with no business meaning used as the primary key in place of real attributes
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10. What is Boyce-Codd normal form?

Senior
  1. A.the rule that, beyond atomicity, every non-key column must depend on the whole composite key rather than only part of it
  2. B.a stricter refinement where every determinant of any dependency must itself be a candidate key
  3. C.the rule requiring every column to hold a single atomic value with no repeating groups or arrays
  4. D.a system-generated identifier with no business meaning used as the primary key in place of real attributes
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11. Which term means: "a stricter refinement where every determinant of any dependency must itself be a candidate key"?

Senior
  1. A.Functional dependency
  2. B.Boyce-Codd normal form
  3. C.Transitive dependency
  4. D.Third normal form
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12. Which statement is correct?

Senior
  1. A.Boyce-Codd normal form — a stricter refinement where every determinant of any dependency must itself be a candidate key
  2. B.Boyce-Codd normal form — the rule that removes transitive dependencies so non-key columns depend only on the key and not on other non-key columns
  3. C.Boyce-Codd normal form — a relationship where a non-key column determines another non-key column, which third normal form is designed to eliminate
  4. D.Boyce-Codd normal form — a system-generated identifier with no business meaning used as the primary key in place of real attributes
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13. What is Functional dependency?

Mid
  1. A.the rule that, beyond atomicity, every non-key column must depend on the whole composite key rather than only part of it
  2. B.the deliberate reintroduction of redundancy to speed reads at the cost of extra write and consistency effort
  3. C.a constraint stating that one set of columns uniquely determines the value of another set
  4. D.the rule that removes transitive dependencies so non-key columns depend only on the key and not on other non-key columns
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15. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.Functional dependency — the rule that removes transitive dependencies so non-key columns depend only on the key and not on other non-key columns
  2. B.Functional dependency — a stricter refinement where every determinant of any dependency must itself be a candidate key
  3. C.Functional dependency — a constraint stating that one set of columns uniquely determines the value of another set
  4. D.Functional dependency — a relationship where a non-key column determines another non-key column, which third normal form is designed to eliminate
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16. What is Denormalization?

Mid
  1. A.a system-generated identifier with no business meaning used as the primary key in place of real attributes
  2. B.the rule requiring every column to hold a single atomic value with no repeating groups or arrays
  3. C.the rule that, beyond atomicity, every non-key column must depend on the whole composite key rather than only part of it
  4. D.the deliberate reintroduction of redundancy to speed reads at the cost of extra write and consistency effort
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17. Which term means: "the deliberate reintroduction of redundancy to speed reads at the cost of extra write and consistency effort"?

Mid
  1. A.First normal form
  2. B.Denormalization
  3. C.Boyce-Codd normal form
  4. D.Transitive dependency
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18. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.Denormalization — a constraint stating that one set of columns uniquely determines the value of another set
  2. B.Denormalization — a system-generated identifier with no business meaning used as the primary key in place of real attributes
  3. C.Denormalization — the deliberate reintroduction of redundancy to speed reads at the cost of extra write and consistency effort
  4. D.Denormalization — the rule requiring every column to hold a single atomic value with no repeating groups or arrays
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19. What is Surrogate key?

Mid
  1. A.the rule that, beyond atomicity, every non-key column must depend on the whole composite key rather than only part of it
  2. B.the rule requiring every column to hold a single atomic value with no repeating groups or arrays
  3. C.a relationship where a non-key column determines another non-key column, which third normal form is designed to eliminate
  4. D.a system-generated identifier with no business meaning used as the primary key in place of real attributes
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20. Which term means: "a system-generated identifier with no business meaning used as the primary key in place of real attributes"?

Mid
  1. A.Functional dependency
  2. B.Surrogate key
  3. C.Boyce-Codd normal form
  4. D.First normal form
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21. Which statement is correct?

Mid
  1. A.Surrogate key — the rule that, beyond atomicity, every non-key column must depend on the whole composite key rather than only part of it
  2. B.Surrogate key — a constraint stating that one set of columns uniquely determines the value of another set
  3. C.Surrogate key — a system-generated identifier with no business meaning used as the primary key in place of real attributes
  4. D.Surrogate key — a stricter refinement where every determinant of any dependency must itself be a candidate key
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22. What is Transitive dependency?

Senior
  1. A.a system-generated identifier with no business meaning used as the primary key in place of real attributes
  2. B.the rule requiring every column to hold a single atomic value with no repeating groups or arrays
  3. C.a relationship where a non-key column determines another non-key column, which third normal form is designed to eliminate
  4. D.a constraint stating that one set of columns uniquely determines the value of another set
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23. Which term means: "a relationship where a non-key column determines another non-key column, which third normal form is designed to eliminate"?

Senior
  1. A.Transitive dependency
  2. B.Functional dependency
  3. C.Denormalization
  4. D.Third normal form
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24. Which statement is correct?

Senior
  1. A.Transitive dependency — the deliberate reintroduction of redundancy to speed reads at the cost of extra write and consistency effort
  2. B.Transitive dependency — the rule that removes transitive dependencies so non-key columns depend only on the key and not on other non-key columns
  3. C.Transitive dependency — a relationship where a non-key column determines another non-key column, which third normal form is designed to eliminate
  4. D.Transitive dependency — the rule that, beyond atomicity, every non-key column must depend on the whole composite key rather than only part of it
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