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For a finitely generated group $G=⟨x_1,\dots ,x_r⟩$, every quotient group is generated by the images of the $x_i$. Thus finite generation passes to quotients.

For a group extension $1\to N\to G\to Q\to 1$, suppose $N$ and $Q$ are finitely generated. Choose finite group generators of $N$ and lifts to $G$ of finite group generators of $Q$. For any $g\in G$, a word in the lifts has the same image as $g$ in $Q$, so their difference belongs to $N$. Thus the two finite sets together generate $G$, proving preservation under extensions.

For a subgroup $H\le G$ of finite index, choose representatives $T$ of the right cosets $H\backslash G$, with $1$ representing $H$, and a finite symmetric generating set $X$ for $G$. Write $\overline{g}$ for the chosen representative of $Hg$. The finitely many Schreier generatorsbelong to $H$. If $h=x_1\cdots x_k\in H$, set $t_j=\overline{x_1\cdots x_j}$, so $t_0=t_k=1$. ThenEach factor is a listed generator because $H{x}_1\cdots x_j=H{t}_{j-1}{x}_j$. Therefore $H$ is finitely generated. This proves Schreier's lemma directly.

An infinite locally finite group isIts elements are binary sequences of finite support, with coordinatewise addition. It is infinite because the unit vectors are distinct. Any finite collection of elements has its supports contained in one finite set of coordinates, and the subgroup it generates lies in the corresponding finite product of copies of $C_2$. Hence every finitely generated subgroup is finite.

Local finiteness passes to subgroups because a finitely generated subgroup of a subgroup is also one of the ambient group. It passes to quotients as well: lift finitely many group generators of a subgroup in the quotient; the subgroup generated by their lifts is finite, and its image is exactly the desired subgroup.

For local finiteness is closed under extensions, suppose $N$ and $Q=G/N$ are locally finite, and take a finitely generated subgroup $K\le G$. Its image $\overline{K}\le Q$ is finitely generated, hence finite. The map $K\to \overline{K}$ has kernel $K\cap N$, soThe finite-index result already proved makes $K\cap N$ finitely generated. Local finiteness of $N$ makes it finite, and thenSince $K$ was arbitrary, $G$ is locally finite. Thus finite generation is preserved by quotients, extensions and finite-index subgroups; local finiteness is preserved by subgroups, quotients and extensions.

A soluble group, also called a solvable group, has a terminating derived series:For a subgroup $S\le G$, induction gives $S^{(j)}\le G^{(j)}$, so subgroups of soluble groups are soluble. For a surjective group homomorphism $q:G\to Q$, $q(G^{(j)})=Q^{(j)}$, so quotients of soluble groups are soluble. Finally, in a group extension $1\to K\to E\to Q\to 1$, suppose $K^{(r)}=1$ and $Q^{(s)}=1$. Then $E^{(s)}\le K$ and $E^{(s+r)}=1$. Soluble groups are closed under subgroups, quotients and group extensions.

A virtually soluble group contains a soluble group as a finite-index subgroup. The finite-index facts proved in parts (i)–(iii) imply closure under subgroups and quotients: intersect a finite-index soluble subgroup with the chosen subgroup, or take its image under the quotient map.

For group extensions, no finite-generation hypothesis may be inserted. We first establish the finite-index characteristic soluble subgroup lemma. If $K$ is a virtually soluble group, the kernel of its action on the cosets of a finite-index soluble subgroup is a soluble normal subgroup $K_0$ of finite index. Among soluble normal subgroups containing $K_0$, choose $R$ with maximal $|R/K_0|$, possible because $K/K_0$ is finite. If $S$ is any soluble normal subgroup of $K$, then $RS$ is soluble: it is an extension of $R$ by $S/(R\cap S)$. Maximality forces $S\le R$. Thus $R$ is the unique largest soluble normal subgroup of $K$, making it a characteristic subgroup, and it has finite index.

Now suppose $1\to K\to G\stackrel{\pi }{\to }Q\to 1$ has both $K$ and $Q$ virtually soluble. Replace $G$ by the preimage $G_0$ of a finite-index soluble subgroup of $Q$. The subgroup $R$ just constructed is characteristic in $K$ and therefore normal in $G_0$. In $E=G_0/R$, the subgroup $A=K/R$ is a finite normal subgroup, and $E/A$ is a soluble group. The centralizer $C_E(A)$ has finite index in $E$, since conjugation gives a map $E\to \mathrm{Aut}(A)$ with finite image. Its intersection with $A$ is the center of a group $Z(A)$, an abelian group, while its quotient by $Z(A)$ embeds in the soluble group $E/A$. Thus $C_E(A)$ is a soluble group. Its preimage in $G_0$ is an extension by $R$, so it too is soluble and has finite index in $G$. Virtually soluble groups are closed under group extensions.

For the final example take the restricted direct sum of groupswhere $A_5$ is the nonabelian simple group of even permutations on five letters. Every finite collection of elements lies in a product of finitely many finite factors, so $D$ is a locally finite group and hence a torsion group. It cannot contain a nonabelian free group, which is a torsion-free group.

To show that $D$ is not a virtually soluble group, let $H$ be any finite-index subgroup and let $N\le H$ be the kernel of the finite coset action. Each coordinate $A_5$ maps either injectively or trivially into the finite quotient $D/N$, by Simplicity of the alternating group A5. The nontrivial images of distinct factors commute, and each has trivial centre, so any $k$ of them generate a direct product of groups of order $60^k$. Only finitely many such images can occur in a finite quotient. Therefore $N$, and hence $H$, contains a whole coordinate copy of $A_5$, which is not soluble: its nontrivial commutator subgroup is normal and therefore equals $A_5$. No finite-index subgroup of $D$ is soluble.

The restricted direct sum of a family of groups $G_i$ is the subgroup of their direct product of groups consisting of tuples with only finitely many nonidentity coordinates. Multiplication is coordinatewise. If every factor is a finite group, each subgroup that is a finitely generated group lies in a finite subproduct, so the restricted direct sum is a locally finite group. This gives concrete infinite torsion groups without a uniform bound on element orders.