Draw, don't imagine
Every blood-relation question becomes simple with a quick diagram:
put each generation on its own level (grandparents at the top),
mark gender (+ for male, − for female, ? if unknown),
join married couples with a double line and siblings with a single line.
Never assume gender from a name. If a question doesn't say, the relation may only be determinable as "grandparent" or "cousin".
Names to know
Relation | Means |
|---|---|
paternal uncle | father's brother |
maternal uncle | mother's brother |
aunt's or uncle's child | cousin |
brother's or sister's child | nephew (male) / niece (female) |
son's wife | daughter-in-law |
husband's or wife's sibling | brother- or sister-in-law |
father's sister's husband | uncle |
"Pointing to a person" statements
Unpack them from the end of the sentence back towards the speaker.
Example. Pointing to a man, Riya says, "He is the son of my grandfather's only son."
Riya's grandfather's only son is Riya's father.
The father's son is Riya's brother.
Example. Introducing a woman, Arjun says, "Her mother is the only daughter of my mother."
The only daughter of Arjun's mother is Arjun's sister.
The woman is Arjun's sister's daughter: Arjun's niece.
Coded relations
Symbols stand for relations. Translate each symbol, then draw.
Example. A + B means A is the mother of B; A − B means A is the brother of B. In P + Q − R, P is Q's mother and Q is R's brother, so P is also R's mother.
Shortcuts and tricks
The standard way is to draw the family tree, with + for male, − for female, = for a couple and vertical lines for generations. These shortcuts handle common sentences without a full tree.
Read the chain from the speaker outwards
Example: "He is the son of my father's only brother."
Standard way: draw the speaker, the father, the father's brother and his son, then read off the relation: cousin.
Shortcut: replace phrases one at a time, starting next to "my": my father's only brother = my uncle; the son of my uncle = my cousin.
"Only daughter of my mother" or "only son of my father"
If a woman says "my mother's only daughter", she means herself. If a man says "my mother's only son", he means himself. For the opposite gender the phrase means the speaker's sister or brother.
Count generations
Example: A is B's son, B is C's daughter, and C is D's son.
Standard way: draw all four people across the generations.
Shortcut: each step changes the generation by one: A is 3 generations below D, so A is D's great-grandson.
Exam tips
"Only son" and "only daughter" are clues that pin down one person.
Watch the direction: "A is B's father" is not the same as "B is A's father".
When the answer depends on an unknown gender, choose the gender-neutral option.