In SQL, which statement describes an inner join?

• A. Returns all rows from the first table and only the matching rows from the second table.
• B. Creates a Cartesian product of all rows from both tables.
• C. Takes two tables and joins them showing the similar categories selected.
• D. Filters rows based on a condition without performing a join.

Answer: (C)

An inner join returns only the rows where there is a match between the two tables based on the join condition. It effectively outputs the pairs of rows that have related values in both tables, such as matching category IDs, so you see only the combinations that exist in both sides. The description that talks about taking two tables and joining them to show the similar categories selected fits this idea, because it implies outputting only the rows where the categories match.

Think of the other ideas: returning all rows from one table with only the matching rows from the other describes a left join; creating a Cartesian product would pair every row from one table with every row from the other; filtering rows based on a condition without performing a join is just applying a filter to a single table, not joining two tables.