Introduction to Blood Relations

What are Blood Relations?

Blood relation questions test how well you can trace family links from a statement. RRB NTPC usually asks 2–3 such questions in the Reasoning section.

Key relations to remember

• Father's or mother's father: Grandfather
• Father's brother: Uncle (chacha/tau); Father's sister: Aunt (bua)
• Mother's brother: Maternal uncle (mama); Mother's sister: Maternal aunt (mausi)
• Uncle's or aunt's child: Cousin
• Brother's or sister's son: Nephew; daughter: Niece
• Wife's or husband's brother: Brother-in-law
• Son's wife: Daughter-in-law

Step-by-step method

1. Start from the last person mentioned ("my mother's ...") and move backwards.
2. Draw a small family tree: + for male, − for female, horizontal lines for siblings, vertical lines for generations.
3. Do not assume gender unless it is stated (e.g. "P is the child of R" tells nothing about R's gender).

Quick example

Q. Pointing to a man, Riya says, "He is the son of my mother's only brother." How is he related to Riya?

A. Mother's only brother = Riya's maternal uncle. His son = Riya's cousin.

Analogy

Analogy: A railway route map

Think of a family tree as a railway route map.

• Each person is a station, and each relation ("father of", "sister of") is a track joining two stations.
• Tracks going up or down change the generation (like moving between zones), while tracks going sideways join siblings on the same line.
• To find how two people are related, you simply plan the journey: start at one station, follow the tracks one by one, and name the route when you arrive.

Just as a passenger reads the map from the starting station, always begin from the person at the end of the statement and travel step by step.