Consider the TRS R consisting of the rewrite rules 1: merge(x,nil) -> x 2: merge(nil,y) -> y 3: merge(x ++ y,u ++ v) -> x ++ merge(y,u ++ v) 4: merge(x ++ y,u ++ v) -> u ++ merge(x ++ y,v) There are 2 dependency pairs: 5: MERGE(x ++ y,u ++ v) -> MERGE(y,u ++ v) 6: MERGE(x ++ y,u ++ v) -> MERGE(x ++ y,v) The approximated dependency graph contains one SCC: {5}. - Consider the SCC {5}. There are no usable rules. By taking the polynomial interpretation [u] = [v] = 1 and [++](x,y) = [MERGE](x,y) = x + y + 1, rule 5 is strictly decreasing. Hence the TRS is terminating.