Blood Relationship Concepts in SSC CGL Reasoning

Blood relations involve the analysis of information showing blood relationships among family members. The relationship between any two members is asked in the given questions based on the chain relationships. 

Check the SSC CGL Previous year’s question papers here.

Candidates should be aware of different relationships in a family, such as father-mother, son-daughter, brother-sister, grandfather-grandmother, uncle-aunty, nephew-niece, etc. 

Logical Reasoning is one of the essential sections in the SSC CGL exam as it carries 50 marks-weightage in the exam and must be studied well while preparing for SSC CGL 2022.

SSC CGL Blood Relations: Important Relations

• Mother’s (or) father’s son – Brother
• Mother’s (or) Father’s Daughter – Sister
• Mother’s brother – Maternal Uncle
• Father’s Brother – Paternal uncle
• Mother’s (or) Father’s sister – Aunt
• Mother’s (or) Father’s father – Grandfather
• Mother’s (or) Father’s mother – Grandmother
• Son’s wife – Daughter in law
• Daughter’s husband – Son in law
• Husband’s (or) Wife’s father – Father in law
• Husband’s (or) Wife’s mother – Mother in law
• Husband’s (or) Wife’s brother – Brother in law
• Husband’s (or) Wife’s Sister – Sister in law
• Sister’s husband – Brother in law
• Brother’s (or) Sister’s son – Nephew
• Brother’s (or) Sister’s daughter – Niece

Check the Blood Relationships Study Material here.

Some Common Errors in Blood Relation

Example 1: P’s father’s Sister’s father is Q. How is Q related to P?

a). Father

b). Uncle

c). Grandfather

d). Son

Solution – (a) Here P’s Father’s sister is P’s Aunt. Her father is P’s father’s father. Therefore, Q is the grandfather of P.

Example 2: Examine the following relationship among members of a family of 6 persons – A, B, C, D, E and F.

1. The number of males equals that of females.

2. A and E are sons of F.

3. D is the mother of two, one boy and one girl.

4. B is the son of A.

5. There is one married couple in the family at present.

Which one of the following inferences can be drawn from the above?

a). A, B and C are all females.

b). A is the husband of D.

c). D is the granddaughter of F.

d). E and F are children of D.

Solution – (b) It is clear that there are three males and three females in the family. Clearly, A, E and B are males. So, C, D and F are females. Also given that D is the mother of one boy and one girl. So, A and D form a couple having two children, namely B and C. Hence A is the husband of D.

Example 3:

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?

a). L + M / N *O

b). L – M * O / P

c). N / M * L / O

d). M + L / O * N

Solution – (d) 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.

Short Tips & Tricks for Blood Relation

• First of all, choose the two persons, between whom the family relationship is to be established.
• Next, pinpoint the intermediate relationship between the two persons i.e., such a relationship through which a long drawn relationship can be established between the required persons.
• Finally, conclude the relationship directly between the two persons as you are interested to know.
• From a person’s name, we cannot know the sex (gender). The name does not always show the gender beyond a reasonable doubt.

Some more tips:

• Grandfather’s (daughter-in-law) = Mother
• Father's son = Brother
• Father's daughter = Sister
• Grandfather’s son = Father / Uncle
• Grandfather’s only son (Same in the Case of Grandmother) = Father

Diagrammatic Representation of Family Relations

When M is male

When N is female

When M, N are husband and wife

When, P, Q are siblings

When A has only child B

When A has two children B, C

Challenges Faced by Students

These tips will help you to know the common errors in blood relation and how to avoid such errors by some basic knowledge of the family tree and its rules.

1. Identify the persons who are in the given information.
2. Identify who are male and who are female.
3. Determine the generations of family.
4. Identify the positions and generation of the family members and draw the diagram with relationships among family members using notations.
5. Once the diagram is filled you can solve the given question.

The easiest way to solve the problems based on Blood Relationships would be to draw a tree diagram as follows:

Example –

1. Pointing to a man, a lady told his father is her mother’s uncle. How it’s the man related to the lady?

Solution: Mother’s Uncle = Grandfather

Grandfather’s son = Uncle

The man is the uncle of the lady.

Family tree

Example 1: Pointing to a man in a photograph, a man said to a woman, "His mother is the only daughter of your father". How is the woman related to the man in the photograph?

a) Sister b) Mother c) Wife d) Daughter e) None of these

SSC CGL Coded Blood Relations

In this type, relationships represented by codes and symbols like +, –, /, *. You have to analyze the required relation based on the given code. In this also you may need the diagrammatic representation of the problem to solve it. Use the same representation used in mixed-blood relations.

In the coding equation, better to solve the code from the last letter.

Example-7:

                  If P+Q means P is the husband of Q, P/Q means P is the sister of Q, P*Q means P is the son of Q. how is D related to A in D*B+C/A?

Solution:

           C/A               –  C is the sister of Q.

           B+C/A          –   B is the brother in law of A (sister’s husband – brother in law.

           D*B+C/A     –  D is the nephew of A (sister’s husband’s son means sister’s son i.e. nephew).

So, the answer is the Nephew.

Previous years' SSC CGL Blood Relation Questions

Q1. Pointing to a lady in the photograph, Monika said, “Her son’s father is the son-in-law of my mother.” How is Monika related to the lady? 

(a) Aunt

(b) Sister

(c) Mother

(d) Cousin

Q2. Anil introduces Akash as the son of the only brother of his father’s wife. How is Akash related to Anil? 

(a) Cousin

(b) Son

(c) Uncle

(d) Son-in-law

Q3. Shikha told Aarushi, “The girl I met, yesterday at the beach was the youngest daughter of the brother-in-law of my friend’s mother.” How is the girl related to Shikha’s friend?

(a) Cousin

(b) Daughter

(c) Niece

(d) Friend

Q4. Pointing to a man on the stage, Natasha said, “He is the brother of the daughter of the wife of my husband.” How is the man on the stage related to Natasha? 

(a) Son

(b) Husband

(c) Cousin

(d) Nephew

Q5. Pointing to a man in a photograph, Aarohi said, “His mother’s only daughter is my mother.” How is Aarohi related to that man? 

(a) Nephew

(b) Sister

(c) Wife

(d) Niece

Recommended Books for SSC CGL Blood Relation

Selecting the right books is very important for sure success in any exam. It reduces efforts. Selecting the best books to simplify your learning process and enhances your chances of doing best in the SSC CGL.

Here is the list of books that the candidate must refer for best results:

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