Relationships
About 6 min · General Intelligence and Reasoning · English
Time worked out from the lesson's 414 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.
Blood relations questions test your ability to decode family relationships through verbal descriptions and logical reasoning. These problems appear deceptively simple but require careful attention to gender, generation gaps, and relationship chains.
Key ideas
- Direct relations: Father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, wife. These form the foundation of all other relationships.
- One-generation extended relations: Uncle (father's or mother's brother), aunt (father's or mother's sister), nephew (brother's or sister's son), niece (brother's or sister's daughter). Always distinguish paternal (father's side) from maternal (mother's side).
- Two-generation relations: Grandfather, grandmother, grandson, granddaughter, great-grandfather, great-grandson. Count the generation jumps carefully.
- In-law relations: Created by marriage. Brother-in-law (spouse's brother OR sister's husband), sister-in-law (spouse's sister OR brother's wife), father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law.
- Cousin relations: Children of your uncle or aunt are your cousins. The exam may test whether you recognize "my father's brother's son" as "my cousin."
Watch out for
- Confusing paternal and maternal sides: "Uncle" without qualifier is ambiguous. If the problem says "my mother's brother," that's maternal uncle, not paternal. Always track which parent's side the relation comes from.
- Ignoring gender clues: "Only son" vs. "only daughter" vs. "only child" have different meanings. "Only son" means no other sons but may have daughters. Students often assume "only son" means "only child."
- Misreading in-law relations: Brother-in-law has two meanings — your spouse's brother OR your sister's husband. Context usually clarifies, but if you assume only one meaning, you'll miss the answer.
Quick reference
- Paternal = father's side; Maternal = mother's side. Never mix them.
- In-laws are created by marriage: son-in-law, brother-in-law, etc.
- Uncle/aunt's children = cousins. Your sibling's children = nephew/niece.
- Draw diagrams for chains longer than two steps. Use M/F or symbols (△ male, ○ female).
- "Only son/daughter" does NOT mean only child unless explicitly stated as "only child."
Check yourself: 3 questions
1. Pointing to a photograph, Ramesh said, "She is the daughter of my grandfather's only son." How is the woman in the photograph related to Ramesh?
2. A is the mother of B. C is the father of B. D is the brother of C. What is the relationship of D to B?
3. If P + Q means P is the brother of Q, P - Q means P is the mother of Q, and P × Q means P is the sister of Q, then which of the following means M is the maternal uncle of N?
This lesson is cut from the topic's note, not rewritten. Fact-checked on 18 Oct 2026: an AI-assisted check of this note against cited sources; the errors it found were corrected that day. Some errors may remain. The questions are from Shishya's validated question bank.
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