The viewpoint across branches: cousins and in-laws
Cousins, uncles, nephews and in-laws sit on other branches of the family. In this lesson you find where two branches meet, count the rungs up and down from there, and name the relation from each end, in English and in Hindi.
Guess first
Gopal is the father of Hari and Indu: Hari is his son, Indu his daughter. Jatin is Hari's son, and Kamal is Indu's son. How is Kamal related to Jatin?
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Correct answer: A
Jatin's father Hari and Kamal's mother Indu are brother and sister, so Jatin and Kamal are cousins. Seen from Jatin, Kamal is the son of his father's sister (his बुआ): फुफेरा भाई.
Option B: Brothers share their parents. Jatin and Kamal have different parents, who are brother and sister: that makes the boys cousins.
Option C: Kamal is Hari's nephew (his sister's son). The question asks about Jatin, one rung below Hari.
Option D: The link runs through Jatin's father, not his mother: Indu is his father's sister.
Hint: Where do the two branches meet? Climb from Jatin to that person, then come down to Kamal.
Two boys, one grandfather: Gopal is Jatin's दादा and Kamal's नाना. The meeting point is the same; each boy reaches it through a different parent.
Where two branches meet
A family is a tree, and two people on different branches are joined at a fork.
The fork the meeting point
the parent or grandparent both lines come from
Climbing to the fork rungs up
from the starting person to the meeting point
Going out along the other branch rungs down
from the meeting point to the other person
A graft that joins two trees marriage
relatives on the other tree are in-laws
To name someone on another branch, find the meeting point: the nearest person both lines come from, or the marriage that joins them. Count the rungs up from the starting person to the meeting point, then the rungs down to the other person.
| Up to the meeting point | Down from it | Relation | Hindi |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | brother, sister | भाई, बहन |
| 2 | 1 | uncle, aunt | चाचा या ताऊ, बुआ, मामा, मौसी |
| 1 | 2 | nephew, niece | भतीजा, भतीजी, भांजा, भांजी |
| 2 | 2 | cousin | चचेरा, फुफेरा, ममेरा, मौसेरा भाई or बहन |
Lesson 7's count still works: ups minus downs is the generation gap. Cousins stand on the same rung (2 − 2 = 0), an uncle is one rung up (2 − 1), a nephew one rung down (1 − 2).
See it: one pair of cousins, two words
flowchart TD G["Gopal"] --> H["Hari (son)"] G --> I["Indu (daughter)"] H --> J["Jatin"] I --> K["Kamal"]
From Jatin's place: Hari is his father, Indu his father's sister (बुआ), and Kamal his फुफेरा भाई. From Kamal's place: Indu is his mother, Hari his mother's brother (मामा), and Jatin his ममेरा भाई. One pair of cousins, two Hindi words: each boy names the other through his own parent.
Name a relative on another branch:
- Start from the person after "related to".
- Climb to the meeting point and count the rungs up.
- Come down to the other person and count the rungs down.
- Take the side from your first rung (father or mother) and the gender from the person asked about.
Try it on paper. Pick one cousin of yours. Write the Hindi word you use for that cousin, then the word that cousin uses for you.
Find the rule
Hari is Indu's brother. Jatin is Hari's son. Indu is the mother of a boy, Kamal. Which Hindi word names Jatin for Kamal?
Show answer
Correct answer: A
Start from Kamal: his mother Indu, her brother Hari (Kamal's मामा), and Hari's son Jatin. The son of the मामा is the ममेरा भाई.
Option B: फुफेरा भाई is Kamal as seen from Jatin: the reverse question.
Option C: Jatin is Indu's भतीजा (her brother's son). The question asks for Kamal's word, one rung lower.
Option D: मौसेरा भाई is the son of the mother's sister. Here the mother's sibling is a brother, Hari.
Hint: From Kamal, which parent is the first rung, and who is that parent's sibling?
Tara is Ved's sister. Ved is the father of a boy, Raj. How is Tara related to Raj?
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Correct answer: A
From Raj: up to his father Ved, up to the parents Ved shares with Tara, then down to Tara. Two up and one down is an aunt, and the climb starts through his father: his बुआ.
Option B: The link runs through Raj's father Ved, so the aunt is on the father's side.
Option C: Tara is Ved's sister, one rung above Raj. This drops Raj's first rung.
Option D: Nephew is Raj as seen from Tara: the reverse question.
Hint: Count the rungs: up to the meeting point, then down.
Ravi and Sita are husband and wife. Mohan is Sita's brother. Which Hindi word names Mohan for Ravi?
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Correct answer: A
Cross the marriage first: Ravi's wife Sita. Her brother Mohan is the wife's brother: साला. In English he is Ravi's brother-in-law.
Option B: Mohan is Sita's brother, not Ravi's. This drops the marriage.
Option C: जीजा (sister's husband) is Ravi as seen from Mohan: the reverse question.
Option D: देवर and जेठ are a husband's brothers: words a wife uses. Ravi's link runs through his wife.
Hint: Which bridge does Ravi cross first?
Name the rule
Meet, then come down.
- Find the meeting point: a shared parent or grandparent, or a marriage.
- Count the rungs up to it, then the rungs down: (2, 2) cousin, (2, 1) uncle or aunt, (1, 2) nephew or niece.
- The side and the Hindi word come from the starting person's parent; the gender comes from the person asked about.
- A marriage adds no rung, but it changes the word: wife's brother साला, sister's husband जीजा.
A Hindi cousin word is built from the word for your own parent's sibling: चाचा gives चचेरा, बुआ gives फुफेरा, मामा gives ममेरा, मौसी gives मौसेरा. Jatin's link is his father's sister, so Kamal is his फुफेरा भाई; Kamal's link is his mother's brother, so Jatin is his ममेरा भाई. Children of two brothers both say चचेरा, and children of two sisters both say मौसेरा.
Worked, half-done, solo
Question
Prakash is the brother of Lata's father. Nitin is Prakash's son, and Pooja is Nitin's sister. Lata is a girl. How is Pooja related to Lata?
Solution
- Find the meeting point
Lata's father and Prakash are brothers, so the two lines meet at their parents: Lata's grandparents.
- Count up and down
From Lata: her father (1), her grandparents (2). Down: Prakash (1), Pooja (2). Nitin adds nothing: Pooja is his sister, on his rung.
- Name it
Two up and two down is a cousin. The first rung is Lata's father, so Pooja is her father's brother's daughter: चचेरी बहन.
Answer: Pooja is Lata's cousin (father's brother's daughter), her चचेरी बहन.
Watch out: Nitin is in the clue but not on the path. A brother or sister of the person you reach stands on the same rung and has the same parents.
Now finish one that is half done.
Vimal's mother and Gauri's mother are sisters. Gauri is a girl. Count from Vimal: up to Vimal's mother (1), up to the two sisters' parents (2), down to Gauri's mother (1), down to Gauri (2). Two up, two down, starting through Vimal's mother. So Gauri is Vimal's ...
Show answer
Correct answer: A
Two up and two down is a cousin. The first rung is Vimal's mother, and her sibling here is a sister: Gauri is Vimal's मौसेरी बहन.
Option B: Gauri's parent in the middle is her mother, the sister of Vimal's mother, not a brother.
Option C: The maternal aunt (मौसी) is Gauri's mother. This stops one rung early.
Option D: Gauri and Vimal have different mothers, so they are cousins, not siblings.
Hint: Two up and two down: which word? Then, which parent starts the climb?
And one on your own.
Arjun and Ritu are husband and wife. Neelam is Arjun's sister. Which Hindi word names Neelam for Ritu?
Show answer
Correct answer: A
Cross the marriage first: Ritu's husband Arjun. His sister Neelam is the husband's sister: ननद. In English she is Ritu's sister-in-law.
Option B: Neelam is Arjun's sister, not Ritu's. This drops the marriage.
Option C: भाभी (brother's wife) is Ritu as seen from Neelam: the reverse question.
Option D: साली is a wife's sister: a word a husband uses. Ritu's link runs through her husband.
Hint: Cross the marriage first: whose sister is Neelam?
The traps
- A cousin taken for a sibling: siblings share parents; cousins share grandparents.
- Answering from the middle chair: the question is asked from the chair of the person after "related to", not from that person's parent.
- Wrong side: the first rung from the starting person decides चचेरा, फुफेरा, ममेरा or मौसेरा.
- Dropping the marriage: a wife's brother is a man's साला, not his brother.
- A pair word from the wrong end: साला and जीजा, ननद and भाभी describe the same two people from opposite ends.
Rohan is the son of Seema's mother's brother. Seema is a girl. Ajit said: "Rohan is Seema's चचेरा भाई." What went wrong?
Show answer
Correct answer: A
From Seema: her mother, her mother's brother (मामा), and his son Rohan. The son of the मामा is the ममेरा भाई. चचेरा भाई is the son of the father's brother.
Option B: Ajit did name a cousin (चचेरा भाई), not a brother.
Option C: The reverse would describe Seema as seen from Rohan: फुफेरी बहन.
Option D: चचेरा is the father's side; Seema's link starts with her mother.
Hint: Through which parent does Seema reach Rohan?
Mixed check
Ajay is Bina's father. Chandan is Bina's brother, and Chandan is Dev's father. How many generations above Dev is Ajay?
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Correct answer: A
Chandan is Bina's brother, so Ajay is his father too. From Dev: Chandan is one rung up, Ajay two.
Option B: Three is the number of links in the clue. The brother link adds no rung.
Option C: This misses one rung: Ajay is above Chandan, who is above Dev.
Option D: Every link is a parent link or a brother link, so the count is fixed.
Hint: Lesson 7: count only the parent steps.
Naveen said to Kiran: "Your mother is my father's sister." How is Kiran related to Naveen?
Show answer
Correct answer: A
"My" is Naveen and "your" is Kiran. Kiran's mother is the sister of Naveen's father (Naveen's बुआ), so Kiran is Naveen's cousin on the father's side. Kiran's gender is not given, so the exact answer is "cousin (father's sister's child)": फुफेरा भाई या बहन.
Option B: Naveen and Kiran have different parents, who are brother and sister: they are cousins.
Option C: The paternal aunt is Kiran's mother. This stops one rung early.
Option D: This is Naveen as seen from Kiran: the reverse question.
Hint: Lesson 5: put names in place of "my" and "your", then find the meeting point.
Quick reference
Across branches
- Meet
- a shared parent or grandparent, or a marriage the meeting point
- Count
- rungs up to it, then rungs down (2, 2) cousin; (2, 1) uncle, aunt; (1, 2) nephew, niece
- Side
- from the starting person's parent चचेरा, फुफेरा, ममेरा, मौसेरा
- Marriage
- a bridge that adds no rung wife's brother साला; husband's sister ननद
- Pairs
- the same two people from opposite ends साला and जीजा; ननद and भाभी; फुफेरा and ममेरा
Why it works: every relative on another branch is reached by climbing to where the lines meet and coming down again. The two counts give the relation, and the first rung gives the side.
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