Blood Relations: Decoding Family Puzzles Step by Step

Blood relation questions describe people through their relationships and ask how two of them are related. A small family-tree diagram makes them easy.

Key relationship terms

Relation	Meaning
Paternal grandfather	father's father
Maternal grandmother	mother's mother
Uncle	brother of a parent, or husband of an aunt
Aunt	sister of a parent, or wife of an uncle
Nephew / niece	son / daughter of a sibling
Cousin	child of an uncle or aunt
Brother-in-law	husband of a sibling, or brother of a spouse
Sister-in-law	wife of a sibling, or sister of a spouse
Father-in-law	father of a spouse

Diagram symbols

• Male: a square or +
• Female: a circle or −
• Marriage: a horizontal line
• Children: a vertical line down
• Siblings: on the same level

Method

1. Read the statement one clause at a time.
2. Draw each person as you meet them.
3. Place generations in rows.
4. Read the final relation from the diagram.

Example 1

Pointing to a man, Ravi said, "His mother is the only daughter of my mother."

• "The only daughter of my mother" is Ravi's sister (taking Ravi as male).
• The man's mother is Ravi's sister, so the man is Ravi's nephew.

Example 2

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

• A, B and C are siblings.
• C is D's father.
• A is C's brother, so A is D's uncle.

Example 3

"My father's only brother's son" is who to me?

• Father's brother = uncle.
• Uncle's son = cousin.

Tips

1. Note gender clues: names, "brother", "daughter".
2. Don't assume gender if it isn't given.
3. Use "only" carefully: "only son" means one son.
4. Work backwards from the person asked about.

Common traps

• Confusing paternal and maternal sides.
• Forgetting to mark the person speaking.
• Mixing generations.

Practice

A handful of blood-relation puzzles a day builds speed, since the same patterns repeat.

Practise with Online Exam Question & Answer →