Blood Relation Questions: Method and Solved Examples
Draw the family tree once and every relation reads straight off it.
Blood relation questions give you a few family facts and ask how two people are related. Father, sister, uncle, sister-in-law: you work out the link step by step.
The fastest way is to draw a small family tree. Once the tree is on paper, almost every question reads straight off it.
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Types of Blood Relation Questions
- Direct statements
- A short chain of facts. "A is the father of B. B is the sister of C." You find how A is related to C.
- Pointing or photo questions
- Someone points to a person or photo and describes them through their own family. "His mother is my only daughter."
- Coded relations
- Symbols stand for relations, such as P # Q meaning P is the father of Q. You decode an expression and find the relation.
- Family puzzles
- A family of five to eight members with mixed clues. Several questions are asked from one tree.
The Family Tree Method
- 1
Pick symbols and keep them
Write + for male and a small circle for female. Put a horizontal line between brothers and sisters, a double line between husband and wife, and a vertical line from parent to child.
- 2
Put one generation on each level
Grandparents on top, parents in the middle, children below. Most mistakes come from putting two generations on one level.
- 3
Mark gender only when it is stated or certain
"A is the brother of B" tells you A is male. It tells you nothing about B.
- 4
Break long sentences from the end
In "the son of my father's only sister", start with "my father", then his only sister, then her son.
- 5
Read the answer from the tree
Trace the path from the first person to the second. If a gender is missing on that path, the answer may be "cannot be determined".
Worked Practice Questions
Original questions written for this page. Try each before reading the solution.
- 1
Practice question 1: Pointing to a man, Riya (female) says, "His mother is the only daughter of my mother." How is Riya related to the man?
The only daughter of Riya's mother is Riya herself, since Riya is a daughter of her mother. So the man's mother is Riya. Answer: Riya is his mother.
- 2
Practice question 2: Pointing to a photo, Arun (male) says, "She is the daughter of the only son of my father's father." Who is she to Arun?
Arun's father's father is his paternal grandfather. That grandfather's only son is Arun's father. The daughter of Arun's father is Arun's sister. Answer: sister.
- 3
Practice question 3: P # Q means P is the father of Q. P @ Q means P is the wife of Q. P $ Q means P is the brother of Q. In M @ N # K $ T, how is M related to T?
Decode left to right. M @ N: M is the wife of N. N # K: N is the father of K. K $ T: K is the brother of T, so T is also N's child. M is N's wife, so M is the mother of T. Answer: mother.
- 4
Practice question 4: A family has six members J, K, L, M, N and O. K is the husband of J. L and M are their children. L is male and M is female. N is the wife of L. O is the son of L and N. How is K related to O, and how is M related to N?
Draw three levels. Top: K and J (married). Middle: L and M, with N married to L. Bottom: O. K is the father of O's father, so K is O's grandfather. M is the sister of N's husband, so M is N's sister-in-law.
- 5
Practice question 5: X is the brother of Y. Y is the daughter of Z. Z is the husband of W. How is X related to W?
Z is male (husband). Y is Z's daughter, and W is Z's wife, so W is Y's mother. X is Y's brother, so X is W's son. Answer: son.
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Common Traps
- check_circleGuessing gender from a name. In exam questions a name like "Kiran" or "P" tells you nothing. Use only the stated relation.
- check_circleAssuming a gender that is not given. "P is the sibling of Q. Q is the mother of R." P is R's uncle or aunt, but which one cannot be determined.
- check_circleMixing up sister-in-law cases. Your brother's wife and your spouse's sister are both sisters-in-law. Check which path the question uses.
- check_circleMixing generations. "My father's father's son" can be your father or your uncle. The word "only" is what makes it your father.
- check_circleReading a coded chain out of order. Decode one symbol at a time, left to right, and add each fact to the tree as you go.
How Bank and SSC Papers Test This
In IBPS PO, blood relations is listed under reasoning. It sits in the Reasoning Ability section of prelims and the Reasoning section of mains. Both are online objective tests with multiple choice answers.
SSC CGL Tier 1 tests reasoning in its General Intelligence & Reasoning section, also as multiple choice questions. Whichever exam you take, the family tree method above is the same.
A relation question can also come wrapped in a family puzzle or a coded expression rather than a plain statement. Practise all four types listed above, not just direct statements.
FAQs
What is the easiest way to solve blood relation questions?expand_more
Draw a family tree with fixed symbols for male, female, siblings and couples, one generation per level. Then trace the path between the two people.
How do I solve coded blood relation questions?expand_more
Decode the expression one symbol at a time, left to right. Add each relation to your tree before moving to the next symbol, then read the final relation off the tree.
When is the answer "cannot be determined" in blood relations?expand_more
When the relation depends on a gender the question never gives. For example, a parent's sibling of unknown gender could be an uncle or an aunt.
Is blood relation in the IBPS PO syllabus?expand_more
Yes. Blood relations is part of the reasoning syllabus tested in both the prelims and the mains of IBPS PO.
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