Types in SBI Clerk
- Direct chain: "A is the brother of B. B is the daughter of C..." - find how X is related to Y.
- Pointing / introduction: "Pointing to a girl, Raman said, 'She is the daughter of the only son of my paternal grandfather.'"
- Coded relations: "P # Q means P is the mother of Q; P $ Q means P is the husband of Q" and an expression such as M $ N # O % P.
- Family-tree puzzle: 6-10 members over three generations, 3-5 questions (count males, find a relation, identify a couple).
Symbols for your family tree
| Mark | Meaning |
|---|---|
| A (+) / A (-) | A is male / female |
| A = B (horizontal double line) | A and B are married |
| A - B (horizontal single line) | A and B are siblings |
| vertical line down from a couple | their child (one generation lower) |
Keep each generation on its own row. Write the gender beside a name the moment a clue reveals it ("brother", "wife", "son-in-law").
Relation vocabulary
- Father's or mother's brother: uncle; their sister: aunt. Paternal = father's side, maternal = mother's side.
- Spouse's brother or sister's husband: brother-in-law; spouse's sister or brother's wife: sister-in-law.
- Son's wife: daughter-in-law; daughter's husband: son-in-law.
- Brother's or sister's son / daughter: nephew / niece.
- Children of siblings are cousins.
Method
- Start from the person who appears in the most clues and build outwards.
- For pointing questions, decode from the end: "my paternal grandfather's only son" = my father; "my mother's only son" = my brother (if I am female) or me (if I am male!).
- For coded relations, decode each symbol left to right and draw the tree before answering.
- Answer "cannot be determined" only after checking: if a person's gender is never given, "son/daughter", "brother/sister" questions about that person cannot be fixed.
Worked example
'P # Q' = P is the mother of Q; 'P $ Q' = P is the husband of Q; 'P % Q' = P is the sister of Q. Find M's relation to P in M $ N # O % P. M is the husband of N; N is the mother of O; O is the sister of P. So O and P are N's children and M, N's husband, is their father. Answer: father.
Trap: "A is the sibling of B and B is the son of C" does not make A a son - A's gender is unknown. Also, "the only son of my mother" spoken by a male is the speaker himself.
Time target
Direct and coded: 30-45 seconds each. Family-tree puzzle: 4 minutes for five questions, including drawing the tree.