Which statement describes the relationship between 2NF and 3NF?

• A. 2NF eliminates partial dependencies; 3NF eliminates transitive dependencies.
• B. 2NF eliminates transitive dependencies; 3NF eliminates partial dependencies.
• C. 2NF introduces more redundancy than 3NF.
• D. 3NF ensures no anomalies even in partial dependencies.

Answer: (A)

Normalization up to 2NF and 3NF looks at how non-prime attributes depend on keys. A partial dependency happens when a non-prime attribute depends on only part of a composite key. 2NF removes those by decomposing the table so that every non-prime attribute depends on the whole candidate key.

A transitive dependency is when a non-prime attribute depends on another non-prime attribute, which itself depends on the key. 3NF eliminates these by ensuring non-prime attributes depend directly on the key, not through another non-prime attribute.

So, the statement that 2NF eliminates partial dependencies and 3NF eliminates transitive dependencies matches the standard progression from 2NF to 3NF. In contrast, mixing up which type of dependency each stage addresses or claiming that 3NF removes partial dependencies would not align with how normalization is defined.