Blood Relations

Blood Relations is a topic where a family relationship is described through a series of statements and you have to find how two people are related to each other. It is one of the most scoring topics in SSC CGL Reasoning if you understand the basic family structure.

Basic Family Structure - Understand This First:

Grandparents Level - Grandfather (Nana/Dada), Grandmother (Nani/Dadi)

Parents Level - Father, Mother, Uncle (Chacha/Mama/Tau), Aunt (Chachi/Mami/Tai)

Your Level - Brother, Sister, Cousin

Children Level - Son, Daughter, Nephew, Niece

Gender Chart - Always Remember:

Types of Blood Relation Questions in SSC CGL:

1. Direct Relation A simple statement is given and you have to find the relationship.

Example: Pointing to a boy, Meena says - He is the son of my father's only son. How is the boy related to Meena?

Logic:

• My father's only son = Meena's brother or Meena himself/herself
• If Meena is female - father's only son = Meena's brother
• Son of Meena's brother = Meena's Nephew

Answer: Nephew

2. Coded Relations Relationships are given in coded form using symbols like +, -, ×, ÷.

Example: 

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

If P + Q - R, then P is the ______ of R?

Logic: 

P + Q = P is father of Q 

Q - R = Q is mother of R 

So P is the father of Q who is the mother of R

P is the grandfather of R

Answer: Grandfather

3. Pointing/Photograph Based A person points to a photograph and describes the relationship.

Example: 

Pointing to a photograph, Rahul says - She is the daughter of the wife of my father's son. 

How is the girl in the photograph related to Rahul?

Logic:

• My father's son = Rahul himself (assuming only son) or Rahul's brother
• Wife of Rahul's father's son = Rahul's wife
• Daughter of Rahul's wife = Rahul's daughter

Answer: Daughter

4. Counting Members You have to count total members in a family based on given information.

Example: 

In a family there are 2 fathers, 2 sons and 1 grandfather. How many members are there?

Logic: 

Grandfather - Father - Son (3 people) 

Grandfather is also a father (father of the middle person) 

Father is also a son (son of grandfather) 

So total = 3 members only

Answer: 3

Short Tricks to Solve Blood Relations:

Trick 1 - Always start from the person whose relation is known.

Trick 2 - Draw a family tree on paper - it makes things visual and easy.

Trick 3 - Remember these key phrases:

• Father's or Mother's son = Brother
• Father's or Mother's daughter = Sister
• Father's brother = Uncle (Chacha/Tau)
• Mother's brother = Uncle (Mama)
• Father's sister = Aunt (Bua)
• Mother's sister = Aunt (Mausi)
• Uncle's or Aunt's son/daughter = Cousin
• Brother's son = Nephew
• Brother's daughter = Niece
• Sister's son = Nephew
• Sister's daughter = Niece

Trick 4 - In coded relations, always solve step by step from left to right.

How to Solve Blood Relation Questions:

Step 1 - Read the question carefully and identify all the people mentioned. 

Step 2 - Start from the person whose relation with others is clearly known. 

Step 3 - Draw a simple family tree with arrows showing relationships. 

Step 4 - Use Male/Female indicators (M/F) next to each name. 

Step 5 - Trace the path from the starting person to the target person.

Important Tips:

• Never assume gender unless clearly stated in the question
• In photograph questions, always identify who is speaking first
• Practice drawing family trees for every question
• In SSC CGL, 3 to 4 questions come from this topic every year
• Coded relation questions are slightly harder - practice them separately