In this guide
Blood relation questions describe how people in a family are linked and ask how two of them are related. The sentences are short, but they pile up quickly. By the third link, most people have lost track in their heads. The fix is simple: draw a small family tree on your rough sheet as you read, one link at a time.
This type turns up regularly in the SSC GD reasoning section. Once you have the drawing habit, it is one of the safest places to pick up marks.
Family words you need
| Relation | English word | Common Hindi word |
|---|---|---|
| Father's father / father's mother | Grandfather / grandmother (paternal) | Dada / dadi |
| Mother's father / mother's mother | Grandfather / grandmother (maternal) | Nana / nani |
| Father's brother | Uncle (paternal) | Chacha or tau |
| Mother's brother | Uncle (maternal) | Mama |
| Father's sister | Aunt (paternal) | Bua |
| Mother's sister | Aunt (maternal) | Mausi |
| Brother's or sister's son | Nephew | Bhatija or bhanja |
| Brother's or sister's daughter | Niece | Bhatiji or bhanji |
| Uncle's or aunt's child | Cousin | |
| Husband's or wife's father | Father-in-law | Sasur |
| Son's wife | Daughter-in-law | Bahu |
| Daughter's husband | Son-in-law | Damad |
| Wife's brother, sister's husband | Brother-in-law | Sala, jija |
Two words need care. Sibling means brother or sister. Child means son or daughter. When a question uses one of these words, it has not told you the gender.
How to draw the tree
- Put older generations at the top, children below, grandchildren below them.
- Mark gender only when the question states it. Use + for male and − for female, or a square for male and a circle for female.
- Draw a vertical line from parent to child, a horizontal line between brothers and sisters, and a double line between husband and wife.
- Leave a person's gender blank if the question does not give it.
Solved examples
Example 1 (chain). P is the brother of Q. Q is the son of R. How is P related to R?
- "Brother" tells you P is male. "Son" tells you Q is male.
- Q is R's child, and P is Q's brother, so P is also R's child.
- P is male. Answer: P is R's son.
Example 2 (two generations). X is the father of Y. Y is the mother of Z. How is X related to Z?
- X is male. Y is female.
- X is one generation above Y, and Y is one generation above Z.
- X is Z's mother's father. Answer: maternal grandfather.
Example 3 (gender not given). K is the sister of L. How is L related to K?
- "Sister" tells you K is female. Nothing tells you L's gender.
- L is K's sibling, but could be a brother or a sister.
- Answer: brother or sister; it cannot be determined. If "sibling" is an option, that is the answer.
Example 4 (pointing to a photo). Pointing to a man in a photo, a woman says, "His mother is the only daughter of my mother." How is the man related to the woman?
- Start from the end of the sentence. "The only daughter of my mother" is the woman herself.
- So the man's mother is the woman.
- Answer: the man is her son.
Example 5 (pointing to a photo). Pointing to a boy, a man says, "He is the son of my father's only son." How is the boy related to the man?
- "My father's only son" is the man himself, since he is his father's son and there is only one.
- So the boy is the son of the man.
- Answer: son.
Example 6 (coded relations). In a code, A @ B means A is the mother of B. A # B means A is the brother of B. A $ B means A is the son of B. What does X @ Y # Z mean?
- X @ Y: X is the mother of Y. X is female.
- Y # Z: Y is the brother of Z. So Y and Z are siblings and share a mother.
- X is the mother of Z too. Z's gender is not given.
- Answer: X is the mother of Z.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Correct way |
|---|---|
| Deciding gender from a name | Use only relation words and pronouns in the question |
| Keeping the whole chain in your head | Draw each link as you read it |
| Reading a photo question from the start | Start with the phrase that points back to the speaker ("my father's only son", "my mother's only daughter") |
| Reversing the direction of the answer | "How is A related to B" means A is B's ___ |
| Treating "sibling" or "child" as male | These words do not state gender |
Practice set
- A is the sister of B. B is the daughter of C. How is A related to C?
- D is the father of E. E is the mother of F. How is D related to F?
- G is the son of H. H is the brother of I. How is G related to I?
- Pointing to a girl, a woman says, "She is the daughter of my only brother." How is the girl related to the woman?
- J is the wife of K. K is the father of L. How is J related to L?
- S is the brother of T. T is the sister of U. How is U related to S?
- Using the codes in Example 6, what does P $ Q @ R mean?
- M is the son of N. N is the daughter of O. How is M related to O?
Answers:
- Daughter. A is female ("sister") and shares C as a parent with B.
- Maternal grandfather. D is male; E is F's mother.
- Nephew. G is male and is the son of I's brother.
- Niece. She is the daughter of the woman's brother.
- Mother. J is the wife of L's father.
- Brother or sister; cannot be determined. U's gender is never stated.
- P is the brother of R. P is the son of Q, Q is the mother of R, and "son" tells you P is male.
- Grandson. M is male ("son"), and M's mother N is O's daughter. O's gender is not needed for this answer.
What to do next
- Learn the family-word table, including the in-law terms.
- Draw a tree for every blood relation question for two weeks, even the easy ones.
- Solve 15 questions a day, with at least three photo questions and three coded ones.
- Practise directions next, which uses the same drawing habit.
- Use ranking for the other "draw it, don't imagine it" type.
A note on dates and numbers. Exam patterns, vacancies and schedules change from year to year. Always confirm the current details in the latest notification on the Staff Selection Commission website .
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