X is the daughter of Y. Y is the son of Z. W is the wife of Z. How is W related to X?
- (a)Mother
- (b)Grandmother
- (c)Aunt
- (d)Sister
Answer
Why
Correct — B.
Rule: place each person by generation.
Y is the son of Z, and W is Z's wife, so W is Y's mother.
X is Y's daughter, one generation below Y.
So W is the mother of X's father: X's grandmother → option (b).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)Mother — Mother would make W the wife of Y, X's father. W is married to Z, one generation above Y.
- (c)Aunt — Aunt is a parent's sister, in Y's generation. W is Y's mother, a generation higher.
- (d)Sister — Sister would put W in X's own generation. W is two generations above X, as her father's mother.
Concept
Build the family one generation at a time. Z and W, a married couple, sit at the top. Y, their son, is one row down, and X, Y's daughter, is the row below that.
A woman two rows above you on your father's side is your paternal grandmother. That is W's place relative to X.
The stem never says W is Y's mother in so many words: it makes her Z's wife. The key reads the couple as Y's parents, and on that reading W is X's paternal grandmother.
Key facts
- A father's mother is a paternal grandmother.
- An aunt is a parent's sister, one generation above you.
- Z, W's husband, is X's paternal grandfather.
Study next
Common traps
- Stopping one generation short and answering Mother
- Reading 'W is the wife of Z' as if W were Y's wife
17 Sep 2025, 16:00, Reasoning Q.8 climbs two generations the same way: P is the son of Q, Q is the brother of S's son R, and P is keyed S's Grandson.
21 Sep 2025, 16:00, Reasoning Q.11 uses the same wife-of-the-father step: C, B's wife, is A's mother, so A is keyed D's Brother.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.