Blood Relations and Family Tree - Questions and Answers

Video on Blood Relations and Family Tree

It defines relation among different members of a family. Association between 2 persons can be by birth or by law.

Example: Mother-Son, Grandfather- Grandson Relationship are all by birth relationships whereas,

All in-laws' relationships like "father in law - son in law", "mother in law-daughter in law" can be classified under "Relationships by law".

Importance of topic

i) This is one of the most important topics in logical reasoning.
ii) Questions from this topic are asked in almost all the examinations like CAT, NMAT, SNAP, MAT, CMAT, CET etc.

Key Points

i) No illegal Relations.
E.g.
(1) A Husband can't have two wives.
(2) No girlfriends / boyfriends.

ii) Never judge gender from name. E.g. "Kiran" can be a Male or a Female.

Pre-Requisites

Go through all the relationships mentioned in the family tree. It will help you in identifying the relationships easily.

Father of Father or MotherGrand Father
Mother of Father or MotherGrand Mother
Wife of GrandfatherGrand Mother
Husband of Grand MotherGrand Father
Father - in - Law of Father/MotherGrand Father
Mother - in - Law of Father/MotherGrand Mother
Father’s Father/Mother only sonFather
Brother of Father or MotherUncle
Sister of Father or MotherAunt
Son of Grand Father/Grand MotherFather/Uncle
Daughter of Father - in - Law/Mother - in - Law of FatherMother / Aunt
Father of Wife/HusbandFather - in - Law
Mother of Wife/HusbandMother - in - Law
Father’s / Mother’s only son/daughterOneself
Son / Daughter of Uncle/AuntCousin
Brother of Husband or WifeBrother - in - Law
Sister of Husband or WifeSister - in - Law
Husband of Sister/ Sister - in - LawBrother - In - Law
Son of Brother or SisterNephew
Daughter of Brother or SisterNiece
Husband of DaughterSon - in - Law
Wife of Brother / Brother - in - LawSister - in - Law
Wife of SonDaughter - in - Law

Suggestions

i) Use symbols and notations like +, -, =, etc. for depicting relationship among two members.
E.g. Sita is wife of Suresh, we can use = symbol for showing relationship Between Suresh and Sita. Like, Suresh=Sita.

ii) Try to solve the questions by applying it on one's own family.

iii) Break the given sentence at is/was/as and resolve it from last point to is/was/as to get easy solution for the problem.

symbols and meaning

Types of Questions

In Blood Relations there are mainly 3 types of questions asked.

1) Round-About Questions

These are Relations between two people only and questions are asked in a round-about manner.

For example:

(A) Rupesh introduces Poonam as the daughter of the only son of my father's wife. How is Poonam related to Rupesh?

i) Cousin
ii) Niece
iii) Daughter
iv) Aunt

Explanation: Break the given sentence at as.
Resolving from the last, In the view of Rupesh,
My father's wife - mother
Only son of mother - himself i.e. Rupesh
Daughter of Rupesh - daughter.
So, answer is daughter.

(B) Introducing a girl, a boy said, "She is the daughter of the mother of the daughter of my aunt." How is the girl related to the boy?

i) Cousin
ii) Niece
iii) Daughter
iv) Aunt

Explanation: Break the given sentence at is.
Resolving from the last,
Daughter of my aunt - cousin
Mother of my cousin - aunt
Daughter of my aunt - cousin.
So, answer is cousin.

2) Symbolic Relationships

In this type a symbol is used to donate a relationship between two persons. Symbols need to be decoded and solution is to be found. Consider following examples.

A) U + V means U is the brother of V,
W – X means W is the father of S,
X ÷ Y means X is the sister of Y,
Y × Z means Z is the mother of Y.
Which of the following means that N is the mother of O?

i) L + M ÷ N – O
ii) L – M × O ÷ P
iii) N ÷ M × L ÷ O
iv) M + L ÷ O × N

Diagram:

symbolic relationships

Explanation: M + L ÷ O × N means M is the brother of L and L is the sister of O and N is the mother of O.
So, answer is M + L ÷ O × N.

Note: Use option elimination technique.(Match symbols in option according to question)

B) If A#B means A is the mother of B; A-B means A is brother of B; A%B means A is father of B; AXB means A is sister of B, which of the following shows that P is the maternal uncle of Q?

i) Q – N # M X P   
ii) P # S X N – Q
iii) P – M # N X Q
iv)  Q – S % P

Diagram:

symbolic relationships

Explanation: P - M # N X Q means P is the brother of M and Mis the mother of N and N is the sister of Q which means mother of Q is M and so P is maternal uncle of Q (Draw diagram if necessary while explaining).
So, answer is P - M # N X Q.

Note: Use option elimination technique.(Match symbols in option according to question)

3) Mixed or Miscellaneous

In this type, mutual blood relationships among different members of a family are mentioned. These types of problems can be solved with the help of diagrams.

A) Read the information carefully and answer the question given below it.

1. A family consists of 6 members P, Q , R, X, Y, Z.
2. Q is the son of R but R is not mother of Q.
3. P and R are married couple.
4. Y is the brother of R, X is the daughter of P.
5. Z is the brother of P.

Questions:

1. Who is the brother in law of R?
2. How many female members are there in the family?
3. How is Q related to X?
4. How is Y related to P?

Solution:

Draw the diagram with given instructions below.

1. Q is son of R. draw this one with thick line in different horizontal rows. Both are male so take as'+'.
2. Use <=> between P and R in same row, because they are couple.
3. Add Y to R with dotted line in same row.
4. Add X to P with thick line downwards to different row.  Here, X is '–'.
5. Add Z to P and take Z as '+'.
6. So, Q and X are brother & sister.

Note: First draw a complete diagram and then solve all the questions.

Diagram:

mixed or miscellaneous

Answers:
1. Brother in law means wife's brother i.e. Z
2. Two female members are there with  '-' symbols i.e. P and X.
3. Q is brother of X.
4. Y is husband's brother to P. i.e. brother in law.

Bucket of Problems

1) Ashwini is Kiran's sister. komal is Kiran's mother. Dipen is komal's father. Esha is Dipen's mother. Then, how is Ashwini related to Dipen?

i) Grandfather
ii) Grandmother
iii) Daughter
iv) Granddaughter

View solution

Correct Option: (iv)

solution

Ashwini is the sister of Kiran.
Ashwini is the daughter of Komal.
Also, Dipen is the father of Komal.
Ashwini is the granddaughter of Dipen. 
So, Answer is Granddaughter.


2) There are six persons Ashwin, Kiran, Komal, Dipen, Esha and Mittal. Komal is the sister of Mittal. Kiran is the brother of Esha's husband. Dipen is the father of Ashwin and grandfather of Mittal. There are two fathers, three brothers and a mother in the group. Who is the mother?

i) Ashwin
ii) Kiran
iii) Komal
iv) Esha

View solution

Correct Option: (iv)

solution

Dipen is father of Ashwin and grandfather of Mittal.
So, Ashwin is father of Mittal. 
Thus. Dipen and Ashwin are the two fathers.
Komal is the sister of Mittal.
So, Komal is the daughter of Ashwin. 
Since there is only one mother, it is evident that Esha is the wife of Ashwin and hence the mother of Komal and Mittal. 
So, Kiran is brother of Ashwin.
Clearly, Ashwin is Esha's Husband.
So, Answer is Esha.


3) Pointing out to a lady, a girl said, "She is the daughter-in-law of the grandmother of my father's only son." How is the lady related to the girl?

i) Sister-in-Law
ii) Mother
iii) Aunt
iv) Can't be determined

View solution

Correct Option: (iv)

Break down the sentence at is and then solve from behind.
Girl's father's only son - Girl's brother.
Daughter in law of girl's grandmother can be their mother, or maternal uncle's wife, i.e. aunt.
So, relation cannot be determined.


4) A's mother is sister of B and daughter of C. D is daughter of B and sister of E. How is C related to E?

i) Father
ii) Grandfather
iii) Grandmother
iv) Either Grandfather or Grandmother

View solution

Correct Option: (iv)

solution

A's mother is sister of B and daughter of C. [Gender of B and C are not clear]
D is daughter of B and sister of E.  [Gender of B and E is not clear]
C's children: A's mother and B
B's children: D[Female] and E
So, C is either Grandmother or Grandfather of E.


5) In a family of six persons A, B, C, D, E and F

- There are two married couples. 
- D is grandmother of A and mother of B. 
- C is wife of B and mother of F. 
- F is the granddaughter of E.  

Who among the following is one of the couples?


i) CD
ii) DE
iii) EB
iv) None of these

View solution

Correct Option: (ii)

solution

C is wife of B. So, one couple is BC.
Now, D in grandmother of A, B is the son of D and his wife C is the mother of F.
So, D is also the grandmother of F but F is the granddaughter of E. 
So, E is the grandfather of F and the husband of D.
So, Answer is DE.