Virendra is the son of Rajendra’s father. Rajendra’s paternal Aunt is Manju. Adarsh is the husband of Manju and son-in-law of Prakash. How is Prakash related to Rajendra?

Correct — option (4), Grandfather.

Work through the clues, noting what each one fixes.

Clue 1 — "Virendra is the son of Rajendra's father."
Virendra is Rajendra's brother. This clue does not involve Prakash.

Clue 2 — "Rajendra's paternal Aunt is Manju."
RPSC's Hindi version of the question prints बुआ (bua), the father's sister. So Manju is the sister of Rajendra's father.

Clue 3 — "Adarsh is the husband of Manju and son-in-law of Prakash."
A son-in-law is a daughter's husband. Adarsh's wife is Manju, so Manju is Prakash's daughter.

Step 4 — join the clues.
Manju is Prakash's daughter and the sister of Rajendra's father.
So Rajendra's father is also Prakash's child.
Prakash is a parent of Rajendra's father, two generations above Rajendra.

Of the four options, only Grandfather is a relation two generations above Rajendra.

The idea to remember: a son-in-law's wife is the daughter, and the parent of one's father's sister is one's own grandparent.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Nephew — A nephew is a brother's or sister's son, one generation below Rajendra.

  Prakash is the parent of Manju, and Manju is the sister of Rajendra's father. That places Prakash two generations above Rajendra, not one below.

• (2)
  Son — A son is Rajendra's own child, one generation below him, and no clue gives Rajendra a child.

  The only clue about Prakash's children is that Manju is his daughter, and she is Rajendra's aunt. Her parent is Rajendra's grandparent.

• (3)
  Brother — Brother is Virendra's relation to Rajendra, from the first clue: Virendra is the son of Rajendra's father.

  Prakash is someone else, the parent of Adarsh's wife Manju. Through Manju, Prakash is a parent of Rajendra's father, two generations above Rajendra.

Blood-relation reasoning places each person in a family tree by generation and by side of the family.

In-law terms cross a marriage: a son-in-law is a daughter's husband, a daughter-in-law is a son's wife, and a father-in-law is a spouse's father.

Paternal means on the father's side and maternal on the mother's side. A paternal aunt is read here as the father's sister, the bua, the word RPSC's Hindi version of this question prints; the same English words can also describe the wife of the father's brother.

Counting generations checks an answer: a grandparent is two above, a parent one above, siblings level, and children or nephews one below.

Key facts

• A son-in-law is a daughter's husband; a daughter-in-law is a son's wife.
• A paternal aunt, read as the father's sister, is the bua.
• Manju is Prakash's daughter and the sister of Rajendra's father, so Rajendra's father is Prakash's child.
• The parent of one's father is one's paternal grandparent, two generations above.
• Virendra, the son of Rajendra's father, is Rajendra's brother; that clue does not involve Prakash.

Common traps

• Reading paternal aunt as a paternal uncle's wife. Then Adarsh would be the father's brother and Prakash his wife's parent, a relation none of the options names.
• Answering from the first clue. Brother describes Virendra's relation to Rajendra, not Prakash's.
• Reversing son-in-law. Adarsh is the son-in-law, so Prakash is the parent of Adarsh's wife, not Adarsh's own parent.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Pointing to a woman, Ramesh said, "Her husband is the only son of my father's father." How is the woman related to Ramesh?

  • (a)Aunt
  • (b)Mother
  • (c)Sister
  • (d)Grandmother
  Answer(2) — The only son of Ramesh's father's father is Ramesh's father, so the woman is his father's wife, Ramesh's mother. Option (1) would need her husband to be another son, but he is the only one; option (3) is Ramesh's own generation; option (4) is the wife of the father's father.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Suresh is the son-in-law of Mr. Mohan. Mr. Mohan's daughter Rekha is the mother of Anil. How is Mr. Mohan related to Anil?

  • (a)Paternal grandfather
  • (b)Maternal grandfather
  • (c)Uncle
  • (d)Father-in-law
  Answer(2) — Mr. Mohan is the father of Anil's mother, so he is Anil's grandfather on the mother's side. Option (1) would need him to be the father of Anil's father; option (3) is only one generation above Anil, while Mr. Mohan is two above; option (4) is his relation to Suresh, not to Anil.