In a certain code language, X + Y means ‘X is the father of Y’, X − Y means ‘X is the brother of Y’, X × Y means ‘X is the sister of Y’, X ÷ Y means ‘X is the wife of Y’. Based on the above, how is D related to H if ‘D × E ÷ F + G − H’?
- (a)Father’s sister
- (b)Mother’s sister
- (c)Sister
- (d)Mother’s mother
Answer
Why
Correct — B. Read the string left to right, one symbol at a time.
D × E: D is the sister of E.
E ÷ F: E is the wife of F.
F + G: F is the father of G.
G − H: G is the brother of H.
G and H are siblings, so F, being G's father, is H's father too. F's wife E is therefore H's mother.
D is E's sister, which makes D the mother's sister of H — option (b).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)Father’s sister — Father's sister would need D to be the sister of F. The string makes D the sister of E, and E is the one married to F, so D sits on the mother's side.
- (c)Sister — Sister would make D a child of E and F. Nothing in the string gives D a parent at all — D enters only through the sister link to E.
- (d)Mother’s mother — Mother's mother needs D to be E's mother. The symbol standing between D and E is ×, which this stem defines as sister, not mother.
Concept
Translate in order and draw the family as you go. Reading the whole string first and then guessing is where these are lost.
Two moves do most of the work here. A sibling link transfers parents: once G is H's brother, whoever is G's father is H's father. And a spouse link converts a father into a mother: F is the father and E is F's wife, so E is the mother.
The code offers no symbol for mother at all. That is deliberate — the relation has to be built out of the wife symbol and the father symbol together.
The chain is read strictly left to right, so E ÷ F means E is the wife of F and not the reverse. Flipping one link is the commonest way this question is lost, and it lands you on father's sister.
Key facts
- In this stem X × Y means X is the sister of Y, and X ÷ Y means X is the wife of Y.
- F + G means F is the father of G, and G − H means G is the brother of H.
- A brother link makes G and H share parents, so G's father F is H's father as well.
Study next
Common traps
- Reading X ÷ Y as Y is the wife of X
- Answering Sister because D's own link is a sister link
- Stopping at E and never carrying the relation down to H
The stem defines all four symbols before it gives the chain, so read the definitions first and carry nothing over from a question you solved earlier. A symbol-interchange item of a different kind appears in this shift at Reasoning Q.19.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.