Why does an INNER JOIN with an ON condition exclude rows that do not have matching keys in both tables?

hard📝 Conceptual Q10 of 15

SQL - INNER JOIN

Why does an INNER JOIN with an ON condition exclude rows that do not have matching keys in both tables?

ABecause INNER JOIN returns all rows from the first table regardless of matches

BBecause INNER JOIN automatically adds NULLs for unmatched rows

CBecause INNER JOIN only returns rows where the ON condition is true, filtering out unmatched rows

DBecause INNER JOIN merges tables without any condition

Step-by-Step Solution

Solution:

Step 1: Understand INNER JOIN filtering
INNER JOIN returns only rows where the ON condition matches in both tables.
Step 2: Explain exclusion of unmatched rows
Rows without matches fail the ON condition and are excluded from the result.
Final Answer:
Because INNER JOIN only returns rows where the ON condition is true, filtering out unmatched rows -> Option C
Quick Check:
INNER JOIN filters unmatched rows by ON condition [OK]

Quick Trick: INNER JOIN excludes rows failing ON condition match [OK]

Common Mistakes:

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