Read the question before drawing
In the exam, Part A (General Intelligence and Reasoning) gives you 25 questions in 15 minutes, about 36 seconds a question on average (SSC CGL 2026 notice, §13.8). Reading every clue and drawing every person costs that time. In this lesson you read the question line first, mark who to whom and what kind of answer it wants, and draw only the path you need.
Guess first
A is the father of B. C is B's sister. D is C's husband. E is D's brother, and G is E's son. How is C related to A?
Show answer
Correct answer: A
The question is about C and A, and only two clues mention them: A is B's father, and C is B's sister. So C shares her father A with B: C is A's daughter. D, E and G are never needed.
Option B: Father is A as seen from C: the reverse question.
Option C: C is a sister, a woman: a daughter, not a son.
Option D: That adds a rung: C is A's child, not a grandchild.
Hint: Read the question line first: which two people does it ask about?
Five sentences, and two were enough. Reading the question first tells you which two.
Question first, then the clues
Reading the question first is like reading the address before you set out.
The address the question line
who to whom, and what kind of answer
The map the clues
read them for the path, not for everyone in them
The route the path
draw only the people on it
Arriving the answer
name it, check it, and move on
| The question asks | What you look for | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| How is X related to Y? | one relation, from Y's side | lessons 1 to 8 |
| Who is Y's ...? | one person on the plan | lesson 11 |
| Which statement is certain, or NOT certain? | test each statement | lessons 3, 6 and 12 |
| How many ...? | a count of people or generations | lessons 3, 7 and 11 |
| If P + Q − R ..., or which expression ...? | decode, or build and read back | lessons 9 and 10 |
36 seconds is an average, not a rule for every question: a quick question gives time to a slower one. What costs marks is reading and drawing things the question never asks about.
See it: the routine on one question
The routine for "How is C related to A?":
- Question line: C to A, and the answer is one relation.
- Clues: find the ones that mention C or A: "A is the father of B" and "C is B's sister". Join them through B.
- Draw: A, with B and C below him. Nothing else.
- Name and check: C is A's daughter; C is a woman (a sister), and the direction is C to A.
- Choose, and move on.
flowchart TD A["A: father"] --> B["B"] A --> C["C: B's sister"]
D, E and G are true, but they sit off the path. In the exam they are there to take your time.
Try it on paper. Take any five-clue question from an earlier lesson. Before reading the clues, write the two names from the question line and the kind of answer. Then circle only the clues that mention them.
Find the rule
To find how P is related to R, which clues do you need? (1) P is Q's mother. (2) Q is R's brother. (3) S is R's wife. (4) T is S's father.
Show answer
Correct answer: A
P is Q's mother, and Q is R's brother, so P is R's mother too. Clues 1 and 2 give the whole path from R to P.
Option B: Clue 3 adds R's wife, who is not on the path.
Option C: Without clue 1, nothing links P to anyone.
Option D: Clues 3 and 4 add people who are not on the path.
Hint: Start from R and look only for clues that lead towards P.
(1) M is N's son. (2) O is M's sister. (3) P is O's husband. (4) Q is P's mother. How is N related to O?
Show answer
Correct answer: A
The question is N to O. M is N's son and O is M's sister, so N is O's parent. N's gender is never given, so the exact answer is "father or mother".
Option B: No clue says N is a man.
Option C: Daughter is O as seen from N: the reverse question.
Option D: Mother-in-law is Q's relation to O. Q is in the clues, but the question is about N.
Hint: Underline the two names in the question line before you read the clues.
Name the rule
Question first, path second, picture last.
- Read the question line: who to whom, and what kind of answer.
- Find the clues that mention those two people, and join them by the shortest chain.
- Draw only the path.
- Name it and run the checks from lesson 12: direction, gender, side.
- Choose and move on. A question that takes far longer than the others is using the time of the quick ones.
Clues are written in the order that suits the person who set them, not you. Reading the question first turns six sentences into the two or three you need, and a whole family into a short path.
Worked, half-done, solo
Question
K is L's brother. M is L's mother, and N is L's father. O is N's sister, and P is O's son. Q is K's wife. How is P related to K?
Solution
- Question line
P to K, and one relation.
- Find the chain
P is O's son. O is N's sister. N is L's father, and K is L's brother, so N is K's father too.
- Draw only the path
K, his father N, N's sister O, and her son P.
- Name and check
Two rungs up from K and two down to P: a cousin. The first rung is K's father, and the middle sibling is his sister: father's sister's son, फुफेरा भाई.
Answer: P is K's cousin (father's sister's son), his फुफेरा भाई.
Watch out: M and Q are true, but not on the path. Reading them carefully costs time without changing the answer.
Now finish one that is half done.
"How many generations above V is S?" Clues: (1) S is T's mother. (2) T is U's brother. (3) U is V's father. (4) W is S's husband. (5) X is V's sister. The question needs S and V. Chain: S to T (clue 1), T to U (clue 2: brothers share parents, so S is U's mother too), U to V (clue 3). Count only the parent steps. So S is ... generations above V.
Show answer
Correct answer: A
The parent steps are S to U and U to V: two generations.
Option B: Three is the number of links in the chain. The brother link adds no generation.
Option C: This misses a step: S is above U, and U is above V.
Option D: Every step is given, so the count is fixed.
Hint: Lesson 7: count parent steps, not links.
And one on your own.
(1) G is H's brother. (2) J is H's father. (3) K is G's wife. (4) L is J's mother. (5) M is K's son. How is L related to G?
Show answer
Correct answer: A
The question is L to G. G and H share their father J (clues 1 and 2), and L is J's mother (clue 4). So L is G's father's mother: his paternal grandmother, दादी.
Option B: G's link to L runs through his father J, not his mother.
Option C: L is J's mother, one rung above G's father.
Option D: That adds a rung: L is two rungs above G, not three.
Hint: Which three clues join G to L?
The traps
- Drawing everyone first: draw only the path the question needs.
- The clue's order taken for the question's direction: answer from the person after "related to".
- One question eating the time of three: if a question is far slower than the rest, decide to leave it rather than drift.
- A clue off the path changing the answer: a true clue that is not on the path cannot change it.
- No final check: direction, gender and side, every time.
(1) R is S's mother. (2) T is S's brother. (3) U is T's wife. How is T related to R? Rahul answered "Mother". What went wrong?
Show answer
Correct answer: A
T is S's brother, so R is T's mother too: T is R's son. "Mother" is R as seen from T, the reverse of what was asked.
Option B: R and T are one rung apart, and Rahul's answer is one rung too.
Option C: Rahul did not name T at all; he named R.
Option D: The question asks for T's relation to R: son.
Hint: Read the question line again: whose relation is asked, and from whose side?
Mixed check
Pointing to a man, Tara said: "He is the son of my father's father." How is the man related to Tara?
Show answer
Correct answer: D
The son of Tara's father's father may be Tara's father himself, or another son: Tara's paternal uncle. Both readings fit, and no option names both.
Option A: That is one reading only: the man may be her father's brother.
Option B: That is one reading only: the man may be her father.
Option C: The paternal grandfather is the man's father, one rung above him.
Hint: Lesson 12: list every person the description fits.
In a code, 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" and A & B means "A is the sister of B". Which expression means "A is the son of B's brother"?
Show answer
Correct answer: A
B % X: B and X are brothers. X @ A: X is A's father. A % Y: A is Y's brother, a man. So A is the son of B's brother: B's nephew, भतीजा.
Option B: X # A makes X A's mother, so A would be the son of B's sister.
Option C: A & Y makes A a sister: the daughter of B's brother.
Option D: This says B is the son of A's brother: the statement is turned around.
Hint: Lesson 10: read each option back as three sentences.
Quick reference
Exam reading routine
- Question line
- who to whom, and what kind of answer relation, person, certain, count, code
- Clues
- only those that mention the two people, joined by the shortest chain the rest is off the path
- Draw
- only the path not the whole family
- Check
- direction, gender, side (lesson 12) then choose
- Time
- 25 questions in 15 minutes: 36 seconds on average (notice, §13.8) a slow question uses the time of quick ones
Why it works: a question asks about two people, and only the clues between them can change the answer. Finding those first saves the time that full drawings take.
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