Theorem 2.8 (Tarski-Vaught Test). Assuming that:

Then the following are equivalent:
  • (i) h is an elementary L-embedding
  • (ii) For every first order formula φ(y,x1,…,xn) and every a1,…,an∈M, if there exists y∈N such that N⊨φ(y,h(a1),…,h(an)) then there exists y∈M such that N⊨φ(h(y),h(a1),…,h(an)).