Blood Relations
🔒 Log in to trackPointing and introducing
🔒 Log in to track'Pointing to a man, Rita said: he is the only son of my mother's mother's only child.' The whole family hides inside one spoken phrase, and the speaker is part of it. Peel the phrase from the inside out, one link per line. Watch for phrases that fold back on the speaker, like 'my mother's only child'.
What these questions look like
Someone points at a person and speaks one long phrase. The phrase is the whole question.
Example: 'Pointing to a man, Rita said: he is the only son of my mother's mother's only child. How is the man related to Rita?'
Two people matter: the speaker and the person pointed at. Every 'my' belongs to the speaker. Decode the phrase, place both people, read the relation.
Peel the phrase from the inside
Work on the innermost 'my' first. Then apply each next 'of' to what you already have. One line of rough work per layer:
- 'My' = Rita. 'My mother' = Rita's mother.
- 'My mother's mother' = Rita's maternal grandmother.
- 'That grandmother's only child' = Rita's mother (she has no sibling).
- 'The only son of Rita's mother' = Rita's brother.
Answer: the man is Rita's brother.
Rule: Resolve one layer per line. Never collapse two layers into one step. That single slip causes most wrong answers here.
Phrases that fold back on the speaker
Some phrases end at the speaker:
| Phrase | Means |
|---|---|
| my mother's only child | the speaker |
| my father's only son | the speaker, if the speaker is male |
| my mother's only daughter | the speaker, if the speaker is female |
Test these the moment you see them. The question then becomes a plain one about the speaker's own child, sibling or spouse.
Example: 'He is the son of my father's only son', said by Suresh. Suresh is male, so his father's only son is Suresh himself. The boy is Suresh's son.
Watch: 'My father's only son' spoken by a woman means her brother, not her. Check the speaker's gender first.
When the answer is 'Cannot be determined'
A phrase fixes only what its words say. If two different families both fit the phrase, no single relation is provable.
Example: 'His wife is the daughter of my grandfather's only child.' The child of the grandfather is the speaker's parent. That parent's daughters are the speaker or her sister. So the man is the speaker's husband, or her sister's husband. Two valid readings, so the answer is Cannot be determined.
Tip: Build two small trees instead of arguing. If both fit the words, pick 'Cannot be determined' and move on.
Blocks the exam reuses
Most phrases are built from a small bank. Learn the bank once:
| Phrase | Decodes to |
|---|---|
| my grandfather's only son | my father |
| my mother's only child | me |
| my father's sister | my aunt |
| my aunt's daughter | my cousin |
| my father's only brother | my uncle |
| my brother's daughter | my niece |
Watch: The word "only" decides who fits. "My father's only son" is me or my brother, depending on my gender.
Check which direction is asked
Most questions ask how the pointed person relates to the speaker. Some ask the reverse: how is the speaker related to that person. Give the mirror word. If the phrase gives 'he is my brother', the reverse ask is answered with 'I am his sister' (for a female speaker).
Question types you will see
Each type: how to recognise it, the method step by step, and one question to try.
Long phrase, decoded layer by layer
'Pointing to X, Y said: he or she is the ___ of my ___'s ___', a chain of two or more links.
Replace 'my' with the speaker's name.
Solve the innermost link first, then apply one link at a time, one line per layer.
Name the pointed person's relation to the speaker.
Each layer is one small tree link. Layers solved in order cannot tangle.
Pointing to a woman, Mohan said: she is the wife of my father's only brother. How is she related to Mohan?
Show solutionHide solution
Mohan's father's only brother = Mohan's uncle.
The woman is married to that uncle.
Wife of an uncle.
Aunt
The phrase returns to the speaker
The phrase contains 'my mother's only child', 'my father's only son' or 'my mother's only daughter'.
Test the fold-back first: 'my mother's only child' is the speaker.
For 'only son' or 'only daughter', match the speaker's gender. If it fits, the phrase means the speaker.
Reread the sentence with the fold done. It is now about the speaker's own child, sibling or spouse.
The setter hides the simplest family, speaker plus one more person, inside a long phrase.
Pointing to a boy, Suresh said: he is the son of my father's only son. How is the boy related to Suresh?
Show solutionHide solution
Suresh is male. His father's only son = Suresh himself.
The boy is the son of Suresh.
One arrow down from Suresh.
Son
Two readings fit: cannot be determined
The phrase names a set rather than one person, like 'one of my grandfather's children', and 'Cannot be determined' sits in the options.
Decode the phrase and list every person who could match it.
Check whether the speaker's own gender or an 'only' word removes any of them.
If two different relations stay possible, answer 'Cannot be determined'.
The phrase is genuinely under-specified. Picking one reading is the planted error.
Pointing to a man, Meena said: his wife is the daughter of my grandfather's only child. How is the man related to Meena?
Show solutionHide solution
Grandfather's only child = Meena's mother.
That mother's daughters: Meena, or a sister of Meena.
The man could be Meena's husband or her sister's husband. Both fit.
Cannot be determined
The reverse ask
'How is the speaker related to the person in the photograph?' instead of the usual direction.
Decode the phrase exactly as usual.
Note the direction: speaker to person, not person to speaker.
Give the mirror word of what the phrase produced.
The phrase fixes one relation. The question only asks it from the other end.
Pointing to a man, Priya said: he is the son of my grandfather's only son. How is Priya related to the man?
Show solutionHide solution
Grandfather's only son = Priya's father.
The man is her father's son, so her brother.
Asked from the man's side, going sideways.
Sister
Shortcuts that save time
Underline the innermost 'my' and work outward. Each line of rough work resolves one 'of'. Then place the speaker and the target in a two-person sketch.
Pointing to a man, Sunita said: he is the only son of my mother's mother's only child. How is the man related to Sunita?
Show solutionHide solution
My mother's mother = maternal grandmother.
Her only child = Sunita's mother.
That mother's only son = Sunita's brother.
Brother
Before peeling anything, scan the phrase for 'my mother's only child', 'my father's only son', 'my mother's only daughter'. If one is there, test the speaker's gender against it first.
Pointing to Ketan, Meera said: his mother is the only child of my mother. How is Ketan related to Meera?
Show solutionHide solution
The only child of Meera's mother is Meera herself.
So Ketan's mother is Meera.
One arrow down.
Son
Mistakes to avoid
Where most students lose marks on this subtopic.
Reading 'only son' as 'only child'.
'Only son' bars other boys only. Sisters may exist.
Forgetting the speaker is a person in the tree.
Every 'my' belongs to the speaker. Test fold-back phrases first.
Answering in the reverse direction: 'his sister' instead of 'her brother'.
Check which person the question names after 'related to'.
Peeling a three-layer phrase in one jump.
One layer per line. Slow rough work is fast here.
Choosing a relation when two families both fit the phrase.
Build both readings. If both fit, answer 'Cannot be determined'.
Quick revision
Read this the night before the exam.
Replace 'my' with the speaker's name, then peel one layer per line.
'My mother's only child' = the speaker.
'My father's only son' = the speaker only if the speaker is male.
Only son bars boys. Only daughter bars girls. Only child bars everyone.
Two valid readings = 'Cannot be determined'.
Check the asked direction before writing the word.
Learn the block bank: grandfather's only son, aunt's daughter, father's only brother.
Practice: 15 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Every answer has a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 10 questions
Suggested time 8 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.