SSC CGL Preparation – Day 2 – Page 3

Table of Contents

Reasoning – Blood Relations

📖 What Are Blood Relation Questions?

Blood relation problems test your ability to decipher relationships between different members of a family based on given clues.
Commonly asked in SSC CGL, CHSL, Bank exams, etc.

🧠 Key Family Relationships:

Relation Type	Examples
Father’s Side (Paternal)	Grandfather, Grandmother, Uncle, Aunt, Cousin
Mother’s Side (Maternal)	Maternal Grandfather, Maternal Grandmother, Maternal Uncle, Maternal Aunt
Own Relations	Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, Son, Daughter, Husband, Wife

📝 Common Terms:

Term	Meaning
Brother	Son of the same parents
Sister	Daughter of the same parents
Uncle	Brother of your father or mother
Aunt	Sister of your father or mother / Wife of your uncle
Cousin	Son or daughter of your uncle/aunt
Nephew	Son of your brother or sister
Niece	Daughter of your brother or sister
Father-in-law	Father of your spouse
Mother-in-law	Mother of your spouse
Brother-in-law	Brother of your spouse
Sister-in-law	Sister of your spouse

🧩 Types of Blood Relation Questions:

Direct Relationship Based:
- Example: “A is the father of B.”
Puzzle Type (Chain of Relations):
- Example: “A is the brother of B who is the mother of C.”
Coded Relations:
- Example: “A + B means A is the mother of B.”

🎯 Tricks to Solve Blood Relation Problems:

1. Draw Family Trees:

Use symbols for faster solving:
👨 Father: ▭
👩 Mother: ○
➡️ Male: + sign, Female: – sign

2. Follow Generation Gaps:

Parents, Grandparents (older generation)
Siblings (same generation)
Sons, Daughters (younger generation)

3. Gender Identification is Critical:

Carefully note if the person is male or female (often hidden indirectly).

4. Code Decoding:

Translate the code into English meaning and solve step-by-step.

🔥 Important Shortcuts:

Clue	Shortcut
‘Paternal’ mentioned	Focus on father’s side
‘Maternal’ mentioned	Focus on mother’s side
‘Only son/daughter’	Unique child, no siblings
‘Brother/Sister-in-law’	Through spouse or siblings

🧠 Examples with Solutions

Example 1:

Q. Pointing to a girl, Raj said, “She is the daughter of the only son of my father.”
Who is the girl to Raj?

A) Sister
B) Niece
C) Daughter
D) Cousin

✅ Answer: C) Daughter
🔹 Solution:

Raj’s father → Only son = Raj himself
Raj’s daughter → Hence, the girl is his daughter.

Example 2:

Q. A is B’s sister. C is B’s mother. D is C’s father. E is D’s mother.
How is A related to D?

A) Granddaughter
B) Grandmother
C) Daughter
D) Great Granddaughter

✅ Answer: D) Great Granddaughter
🔹 Solution:

D is C’s father → D → Parent of C
C is B’s mother → C → Parent of B
A is B’s sister → A → Sibling of B
→ Thus, A is D’s great-granddaughter.

Example 3:

Q. If ‘A + B’ means ‘A is the father of B’, ‘A – B’ means ‘A is the mother of B’, ‘A × B’ means ‘A is the brother of B’, then what does ‘P + Q × R’ mean?

A) P is the father of R
B) P is the uncle of R
C) P is the brother of R
D) P is the father of Q and uncle of R

✅ Answer: D) P is the father of Q and uncle of R
🔹 Solution:

P + Q → P is father of Q
Q × R → Q is brother of R
Thus, P is Q’s father and hence R’s uncle.

⚡ Common Patterns You Must Master:

Pattern	Example	Relation
Father’s only son’s daughter	Granddaughter
Sister’s husband’s brother	Brother-in-law
Mother’s father	Maternal grandfather
Wife’s brother	Brother-in-law
Brother’s wife	Sister-in-law

✍️ Practice Tips for Blood Relation Problems:

Always sketch diagrams while solving.
Watch for gender hints carefully.
Focus on generation gaps.
Translate coded problems into normal English first.
Practice daily! Speed and accuracy matter.

🎯 Quick Memory Map:

scssCopyEditGrandparents
    ↓
Parents (Father-Mother)
    ↓
Self (Brother-Sister)
    ↓
Children (Son-Daughter)
    ↓
Grandchildren

🔥 Quick Recap:

Know basic family terms (father, mother, sister, cousin, etc.).
Carefully trace generations.
Solve from bottom to top when needed.
Decode coded relations slowly step-by-step.
Practice visual diagrams!

SSC CGL Preparation – Day 2