Blood Relations (Logical Reasoning)

1. What It Is

  • Blood Relation questions test your ability to understand relationships among family members.
  • You are given descriptions or statements, and you have to identify relationship between two persons.

Key Idea:

  • Questions are about father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, husband, wife, uncle, aunt, etc.
  • Often involve paternal/maternal relationships, genders, or generational positions.

Examples:

  • Pointing to a person in a photograph, “He is the son of my father’s brother. How is he related to me?”
  • Statements like “A is the father of B. B is the mother of C. How is C related to A?”

2. How to Approach

  1. Read the question carefully – identify who is related to whom.
  2. Draw a family tree or diagram – mark gender and relationships.
  3. Follow the statements step by step – build the relationship chain.
  4. Find the final relation between the two persons asked.
  5. Verify carefully – some questions have tricky wording like “mother’s brother’s son.”

3. Rules & Key Points

  • Father/Mother → Parents
  • Son/Daughter → Children
  • Brother/Sister → Siblings
  • Husband/Wife → Spouse
  • Uncle/Aunt → Brother/Sister of parent
  • Nephew/Niece → Son/Daughter of sibling
  • Grandfather/Grandmother → Parent of parent

Tips:

  • Gender matters – “he” or “she” gives clue
  • “Brother’s son” = nephew, “Sister’s daughter” = niece
  • Sometimes “my father’s brother” = paternal uncle, “mother’s brother” = maternal uncle

4. Tricks & Shortcuts

  1. Always identify the base person (I, me, or person referred).
  2. Stepwise approach → parse one relationship at a time.
  3. Draw family tree diagram – easier for multi-step relations.
  4. Use short symbols:
    • M = Mother
    • F = Father
    • S = Son
    • D = Daughter
    • H = Husband
    • W = Wife
  5. For multi-step relations, write the chain: e.g., “my father’s brother’s son” → F → B → S

5. Types of Blood Relation Questions

  1. Direct Relationship – 2 persons, simple relation
  2. Stepwise / Multi-Level Relationship – involving 3–4 persons
  3. Gender-Specific – identify male/female relations
  4. Puzzle-Based Family Tree – several statements, determine final relation
  5. Coding / Symbol-Based – sometimes relations are coded

6. Stepwise Solving Strategy

  1. Identify the person from whose perspective the question is asked.
  2. Note the gender clues.
  3. Parse step by step – build relations in order.
  4. Draw family tree or diagram if complex.
  5. Determine final relationship between the two persons.

7. Easy Practice Questions

1. Direct Relationship

Question: Pointing to a man, a woman says, “He is the father of my mother.” How is he related to the woman?

Solution:

  • He = Mother’s father → Woman’s grandfather ✅
  • Answer: Grandfather

2. Stepwise Relationship

Question: A is the father of B. B is the mother of C. How is C related to A?

Solution:

  • A → B → C
  • B is mother of C → C = grandchild of A ✅
  • Answer: Grandchild

3. Sibling Relationship

Question: X is the brother of Y. Y is the mother of Z. How is Z related to X?

Solution:

  • X → Y → Z
  • X = maternal uncle of Z ✅
  • Answer: Uncle

4. Gender-Specific

Question: P is the father of Q. Q is the sister of R. How is P related to R?

Solution:

  • P = father of Q
  • Q = sister of R → R = sibling → P = father of R ✅
  • Answer: Father

5. Multi-Step

Question: A is the son of B. B is the daughter of C. D is the son of C. How is D related to A?

Solution:

  • C → B → A (B = daughter of C → A = son of B)
  • D = son of C → D = maternal/paternal uncle of A ✅
  • Answer: Uncle

8. Difficult Practice Questions

6. Complex Multi-Level

Question: Pointing to a man, a woman says, “He is the brother of my father’s mother.” How is he related to her?

Solution:

  • Father’s mother = grandmother
  • Her brother → great-uncle ✅
  • Answer: Great-uncle

7. Puzzle-Based Family Tree

Question:

  1. A is married to B.
  2. B is the mother of C.
  3. C is the father of D.
  4. E is the sister of A.

Question: How is D related to E?

Solution:

  • A ↔ B → parents of C → C → D → child
  • E = sister of A → D = nephew/niece of E ✅
  • Answer: Nephew/Niece

8. Stepwise Gender

Question: F is the father of G. H is the mother of I. G is the brother of I. How is F related to H?

Solution:

  • G & I = siblings
  • F = father of G → father of I too → H = mother of I → F = husband of H ✅
  • Answer: Husband

9. Multi-Generational

Question: A is the father of B. B is the father of C. C is the mother of D. How is A related to D?

Solution:

  • A → B → C → D
  • A = great-grandfather of D ✅
  • Answer: Great-grandfather

10. Complicated Chain

Question: X is the son of Y. Y is the brother of Z. Z has a daughter W. How is W related to X?

Solution:

  • Y = brother of Z → X = nephew of Z
  • W = daughter of Z → X = cousin of W ✅
  • Answer: Cousin

✅ Quick Tips

  1. Draw family tree diagram for multi-step problems.
  2. Start from known person (I, he, she).
  3. Use gender clues carefully.
  4. Convert verbal statements → relationships chain.

Practice common relations: uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, grandfather, grandmother, cousin.