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Reasoning practice

Blood Relation Questions with Answers

Blood relation questions ask how one person is related to another, using a short chain of clues such as 'A is the brother of B, and B is the mother of C'. SSC CGL and CHSL, RRB NTPC and Group D, and bank prelims all ask them, often as a family chain or as coded symbols. Learn the basic family terms first. Then draw a small family tree as you read, one clue at a time.

Rules to remember

  • Father's or mother's brother is an uncle. Father's or mother's sister is an aunt.
  • Father's or mother's father is a grandfather. Father's or mother's mother is a grandmother.
  • Brother's or sister's son is a nephew. Brother's or sister's daughter is a niece.
  • Son's wife is a daughter-in-law. Daughter's husband is a son-in-law. Wife's or husband's brother is a brother-in-law. Wife's or husband's sister is a sister-in-law.
  • Children of an uncle or aunt are cousins. The word cousin does not tell you the gender, so do not assume one.
  • Words like parent, child, sibling, spouse and cousin do not show gender. Fix a gender only when a clue gives it.
  • In a family tree, draw a square for a male and a circle for a female. Join siblings with a horizontal line and parent to child with a vertical line.
  • In coded relations, write down what each symbol means first, then convert the expression one symbol at a time from left to right.

Worked examples

Q1. Pointing to a man, Rita said, "He is the son of my mother's only brother." How is the man related to Rita?

  1. Rita's mother's brother is Rita's maternal uncle.
  2. The son of that uncle is Rita's cousin.
  3. The man is male, so he is Rita's cousin brother. The usual answer is cousin.

Answer: Cousin (her maternal uncle's son)

Q2. A is the sister of B. C is the mother of B. D is the father of C. How is A related to D?

  1. A is B's sister, so A and B have the same mother, C.
  2. So A is a daughter of C. A is female because she is called a sister.
  3. D is C's father.
  4. D is the father of A's mother, so A is D's granddaughter.

Answer: Granddaughter

Q3. In a certain code, P + Q means P is the mother of Q, P - Q means P is the brother of Q, and P x Q means P is the father of Q. If A x B - C + D, how is A related to D?

  1. Read the expression in pairs. A x B means A is the father of B.
  2. B - C means B is the brother of C, so B and C are siblings and A is also the father of C.
  3. C + D means C is the mother of D, so C is female.
  4. A is the father of C, and C is the mother of D, so A is D's maternal grandfather.

Answer: Maternal grandfather

Shortcuts that save time

  • Do not rush to the options. Draw the tree and place each person with a gender sign. Most wrong answers come from assuming a gender that the question never gave, and these cost negative marks.
  • Work backward from the person being asked about. Start at the second person and move up or down one generation at a time until you reach the first person.
  • Use 'my' carefully. When someone says 'my mother's brother', the starting person is the speaker. Mark the speaker first and the rest of the chain falls into place.

Where this appears

SSC CGL Tier-1General Intelligence & Reasoning section
SSC CHSL Tier-1General Intelligence section
RRB NTPC CBT-1General Intelligence & Reasoning section
RRB Group D CBTGeneral Intelligence & Reasoning section
IBPS PO PrelimsReasoning Ability section

Blood Relation

Practice Set
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P is the son of Q. Q is the son of R. How is P related to R?

Reasoning · stress-free practice · answers reveal instantly

Blood Relation questions with answers

10 sample questions from this topic with the correct option and the solution.

  1. Q1. M is the son of N. N is the son of O. How is M related to O?

    1. Son
    2. Nephew
    3. Husband
    4. Grandson

    Answer: (D) Grandson

    Solution
    N is O's son, and M is N's son, so M is O's grandson.

  2. Q2. If A + B means 'A is the mother of B', A × B means 'A is the husband of B', and A - B means 'A is the sister of B', what does P × Q + R mean about the relation of P to R?

    1. Uncle
    2. Father
    3. Nephew
    4. Son-in-law

    Answer: (B) Father

    Solution
    P × Q means P is Q's husband; Q + R means Q is R's mother, so Q's husband P is R's father.

  3. Q3. J is the daughter of K. K is the husband of L. L is the mother of H. How is J related to H?

    1. Sister-in-law
    2. Niece
    3. Grandmother
    4. Sister

    Answer: (D) Sister

    Solution
    K and L are J's parents, and L is also H's mother, so J and H are siblings — J is H's sister.

  4. Q4. D is the father of E. E is the father of F. How is D related to F?

    1. Father
    2. Brother-in-law
    3. Son-in-law
    4. Grandfather

    Answer: (D) Grandfather

    Solution
    E is F's father, and D is E's father, so D is F's grandfather.

  5. Q5. J is the brother of K. K is the father of L. L is the sister of H. How is J related to H?

    1. Uncle
    2. Husband
    3. Grandson
    4. Grandfather

    Answer: (A) Uncle

    Solution
    K is father of both L and H (since L is H's sister), and J is K's brother, so J is H's uncle too.

  6. Q6. If A + B means 'A is the mother of B', A × B means 'A is the husband of B', and A - B means 'A is the sister of B', what does J × K + L mean about the relation of J to L?

    1. Brother-in-law
    2. Husband
    3. Brother
    4. Father

    Answer: (D) Father

    Solution
    J × K means J is K's husband; K + L means K is L's mother, so K's husband J is L's father.

  7. Q7. X is the daughter of Y. Y is the sister of Z. How is X related to Z?

    1. Mother
    2. Niece
    3. Aunt
    4. Sister

    Answer: (B) Niece

    Solution
    Y is Z's sister, and X is Y's daughter, so X is Z's niece.

  8. Q8. A is the father of B. B is the husband of C. How is A related to C?

    1. Son-in-law
    2. Husband
    3. Grandson
    4. Father-in-law

    Answer: (D) Father-in-law

    Solution
    B is C's husband and A is B's father, so A is C's father-in-law.

  9. Q9. If A + B means 'A is the mother of B', A × B means 'A is the husband of B', and A - B means 'A is the sister of B', what does D × E + F mean about the relation of D to F?

    1. Father
    2. Uncle
    3. Brother
    4. Nephew

    Answer: (A) Father

    Solution
    D × E means D is E's husband; E + F means E is F's mother, so E's husband D is F's father.

  10. Q10. If A * B means 'A is the daughter of B' and A / B means 'A is the brother of B', what does A * B / C mean about the relation of A to C?

    1. Niece
    2. Sister-in-law
    3. Grandmother
    4. Daughter

    Answer: (A) Niece

    Solution
    A * B means A is B's daughter; B / C means B is C's brother, so A, B's daughter, is C's niece.