Basic Concept Of BLOOD RELATION

Reasoning Notes for Banking, SSC, Railway and Other Competitive Exams

1. Introduction to Blood Relations

Blood relation is an important topic in the Reasoning section of competitive examinations. It deals with identifying how two or more people are related to each other through family connections.

Questions may describe a family directly or provide relationships through statements, coded symbols, or a family tree. The candidate must analyse the information carefully and determine the correct relationship.

Common relationships include:

Father, mother, son and daughter

Brother and sister

Grandfather and grandmother

Uncle and aunt

Nephew and niece

Cousin

Father-in-law and mother-in-law

Son-in-law and daughter-in-law

Brother-in-law and sister-in-law

2. Important Family Relationships

A. Paternal Relationships

Paternal relationships refer to relatives connected through the father’s side of the family.

Father’s father → Paternal grandfather

Father’s mother → Paternal grandmother

Father’s brother → Paternal uncle

Father’s sister → Paternal aunt

Father’s brother’s wife → Aunt by marriage

Father’s sister’s husband → Uncle by marriage

Father’s brother’s or sister’s child → Cousin

B. Maternal Relationships

Maternal relationships refer to relatives connected through the mother’s side of the family.

Mother’s father → Maternal grandfather

Mother’s mother → Maternal grandmother

Mother’s brother → Maternal uncle

Mother’s sister → Maternal aunt

Mother’s brother’s wife → Aunt by marriage

Mother’s sister’s husband → Uncle by marriage

Mother’s brother’s or sister’s child → Cousin

C. Relationships Across Generations

Father’s or mother’s father → Grandfather

Father’s or mother’s mother → Grandmother

Son’s son → Grandson

Son’s daughter → Granddaughter

Daughter’s son → Grandson

Daughter’s daughter → Granddaughter

Grandson’s son → Great-grandson

Granddaughter’s daughter → Great-granddaughter

D. Relationships Through Marriage

Son’s wife → Daughter-in-law

Daughter’s husband → Son-in-law

Husband’s father → Father-in-law

Wife’s father → Father-in-law

Husband’s mother → Mother-in-law

Wife’s mother → Mother-in-law

Husband’s brother → Brother-in-law

Wife’s brother → Brother-in-law

Brother’s wife → Sister-in-law

Sister’s husband → Brother-in-law

Important: In ordinary competitive-exam questions, the term cousin generally refers to the child of one’s uncle or aunt. Some relationships may also vary according to cultural or extended-family usage.

3. Basic Gender Identification

Identifying the gender of each person is an essential step in solving blood-relation questions.

Relationship

Terms such as cousin, child, parent, sibling and grandchild do not independently establish gender.

4. Symbols Used in Blood-Relation Diagrams

For quick analysis, candidates can use the following symbols:

Male: +

Female: −

Marriage: A horizontal connection between spouses

Parent-child relationship: A vertical connection between generations

Siblings: People connected to the same parents

Examples:

Father → Son: Male → Male

Father → Daughter: Male → Female

Mother → Son: Female → Male

Mother → Daughter: Female → Female

These symbols are a convenient study convention. Always follow any specific symbols defined in the question.

5. How to Solve Blood-Relation Questions

Step 1: Identify all people.

Write down the names or labels used in the question.

Step 2: Determine gender.

Mark each person as male, female, or unknown.

Step 3: Find the generations.

Place grandparents at the top, parents in the middle, and children below them.

Step 4: Connect the relationships.

Draw a simple family tree or use arrows to connect the people.

Step 5: Start from the person mentioned first.

Follow the chain one relationship at a time instead of guessing the final answer.

Step 6: Check the final relationship.

Confirm both the gender and generation before selecting an answer.

6. Additional Rules and Shortcuts

Rule 1: Brother and sister share parents.

If A is the brother of B, A is male and B is A’s sibling. However, B’s gender is not established unless further information is given.

Rule 2: A parent’s sibling is an uncle or aunt.

The gender of the parent’s sibling determines whether the person is an uncle or aunt.

Rule 3: The children of siblings are cousins.

If two people are siblings, their children are cousins to one another.

Rule 4: Marriage does not establish blood relation.

A daughter-in-law, son-in-law or brother-in-law is related through marriage, not necessarily by blood.

Rule 5: Only son and only daughter are important clues.

If a question states that a person has only one son, that son is the person’s sole male child. Do not assume there are no daughters unless the wording rules them out.

Rule 6: Avoid assuming gender.

If the question says, “A is the child of B,” the gender of A is unknown.

Rule 7: Read pronouns carefully.

Words such as his, her, he and she may provide important clues about gender.

Rule 8: Draw a family tree for long questions.

For chains containing four or more relationships, a diagram is usually more reliable than mental calculation.

SOLVED EXAMPLE

Question 1

Pointing out to a lady, Rajan said, “She is the daughter of the woman who is the mother of the husband of my mother.” Who is the lady to Rajan?

(a) Aunt (b) Granddaughter (c) Daughter (d) Sister

Solution:

Family relationship diagram:

Hence, the lady is the sister of Rajan’s father. So, she is his aunt.

Answer: (a) Aunt

Question 2

A is B’s sister. C is B’s mother. D is C’s father. E is D’s mother. Then how is A related to D?

(a) Daughter (b) Granddaughter (c) Grandmother (d) Grandfather

Solution:

A is the daughter of C, and C is the daughter of D.

Therefore, A is the granddaughter of D.

Answer: (b) Granddaughter

Directions (Questions 3–5)

A is the mother of B. B is the sister of C. D is the son of C. E is the brother of D. F is the mother of E. G is the granddaughter of A. A has only two children, B and C.

Question 3

How is F related to H?

(a) Son-in-law (b) Daughter-in-law (c) Father-in-law (d) Granddaughter

Question 4

How is C related to E?

(a) Father (b) Son (c) Mother (d) Cousin brother

Question 5

Who is the mother of G?

(a) C (b) B (c) F (d) Either B or F

Solution Diagram

PRACTICE SET For Banking /SSC /Railway

Directions (1–3)

Read the following information carefully and answer the questions given below.

A is the son of B. C, B’s sister, has a son D and a daughter E. F is the maternal uncle of D.

1. How is A related to D?

(a) Cousin (b) Nephew (c) Uncle (d) Brother

2. How is E related to F?

(a) Sister (b) Daughter (c) Niece (d) Wife

3. How many nephews does F have?

(a) Nil (b) One (c) Two (d) Three

Directions (4–5)

Read the following information and answer the questions given below.

A is the father of C. But C is not his son. E is the daughter of C. F is the spouse of A. B is the brother of C. D is the son of B. G is the spouse of B. H is the father of G.

4. Who is the grandmother of D?

(a) A (b) C (c) F (d) H

5. Who is the son of F?

(a) B (b) C (c) D (d) E

Directions (6–9)

The following information is given about a family.

• Meena is Reena’s only sibling.

• Sita is Ruchi’s grandmother.

• Nutan is Sujata’s and Ram’s grandchild.

• Sujata has only one child, a son.

• Meena is Vishu’s sister-in-law and Ruchi’s mother.

• Nutan is Vishu’s daughter.

• Ram is Sita’s husband.

6. How is Nutan related to Ruchi?

(a) Sister (b) Cousin (c) Aunt (d) Niece

7. How is Sita related to Vishu?

(a) Mother (b) Aunt (c) Mother-in-law (d) Sister

8. How is Vishu related to Ruchi?

(a) Father (b) Uncle (c) Grandfather (d) Brother

9. How is Ram related to Sujata?

(a) Brother (b) Husband (c) Sister (d) None of these