Pointing to a man, Ravi said, “He is the son of my father’s only son.” How is the man related to Ravi?
- (a)Uncle
- (b)Brother
- (c)Cousin
- (d)Son
Answer
Why
Correct — D.
Rule: decode the phrase from the inside out.
My father's only son → Ravi himself, since Ravi is his father's son and there is only one.
The son of Ravi → Ravi's son → option (d).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)Uncle — An uncle is a father's brother. The phrase runs through the father's son, not his brother, so it never reaches an uncle.
- (b)Brother — Brother answers only 'my father's son'. The man is the son of that only son, one generation below Ravi.
- (c)Cousin — A cousin is an uncle's or aunt's child. No uncle or aunt appears; the chain runs father → Ravi → Ravi's son.
Concept
Blood-relation statements are read from the innermost phrase outward. Replace each possessive chain with the person it names before you add the next link.
The load-bearing word is only. If the father has one son and Ravi is a son, that son is Ravi. The sentence then says 'He is the son of Ravi', which makes the man Ravi's son.
The reading takes Ravi to be male. Said by a woman, 'my father's only son' would be her brother and the man her nephew. No option here reads Nephew, so the options allow only the key's reading.
Key facts
- My father's only son, said by a man, is the speaker himself.
- Said by a woman, my father's only son is her brother.
- An uncle is a parent's brother.
- A cousin is an uncle's or aunt's child.
Study next
Common traps
- Stopping at 'my father's only son' and answering Brother
- Ignoring 'only', which is what makes the only son Ravi himself
12 Sep 2025, 16:00, Reasoning Q.20 gives the same chain to a man: 'the daughter of my mother's only son' is his daughter (keyed a).
13 Sep 2025, 12:30, Reasoning Q.23 gives it to a girl, so the only son is her brother and the boy her nephew (keyed c).
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.