Blood Relations — Advanced Exam Problems

🎯 Learning Objective

Decode long symbol chains (@, #, $, %), verify which expression proves a given relation, and settle paternal vs maternal in one pass.

💡 Concept

• Modern papers replace + − × ÷ with @, #, $, % — the METHOD stays the same: translate one symbol at a time, strictly left to right
• Sibling links are the power move: siblings share parents, so a mother or father 'jumps across' every brother/sister link in the chain
• 'Which expression shows…' questions: write the target as a structure first (maternal uncle = brother of the mother), then test each option against that structure
• A wife/husband symbol fixes gender AND creates the other parent — the father's wife is the mother in exam chains
• Paternal vs maternal is decided by the LAST parent link before the target person: father-side = dada/dadi, mother-side = nana/nani

🧮 Key Formulas

This lesson's legend: A @ B = A is the mother of B | A # B = A is the father of B | A $ B = A is the brother of B | A % B = A is the wife of B

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Siblings share parents → a parent of one is a parent of all

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Mother of the father = paternal grandmother (dadi); mother of the mother = maternal grandmother (nani)

✏️ Easy Example

Q. Using @ = mother of and # = father of: in 'P # Q @ R', how is P related to R?

1. P # Q → P is the father of Q
2. Q @ R → Q is the mother of R, so Q is female
3. P is the father of R's mother — father of the mother = maternal grandfather (nana)

Answer: Maternal grandfather (nana)

🇮🇳 Real-Life Example

Government records write relations in shorthand — W/O, S/O, D/O. Reading 'Sita W/O Ram S/O Mohan' correctly is symbol-chain decoding on a real form.

📝 Exam-Level Example

Q. With @ = mother of, # = father of, $ = brother of, % = wife of: in 'P @ Q $ R # S', how is P related to S?

1. P @ Q → P is the mother of Q, so P is female
2. Q $ R → Q is the brother of R — Q and R are siblings, and siblings share their mother
3. Therefore P is the mother of R as well — the mother jumps across the sibling link
4. R # S → R is the father of S, so R is male
5. P is the mother of S's FATHER — a father-side link, so P is the paternal grandmother (dadi), not nani

Answer: Paternal grandmother (dadi)

📝 Exam-Level Example

Q. Using the same legend, which expression shows that M is the maternal uncle of T? (i) M $ K @ T (ii) M @ K $ T

1. Write the target as a structure first: maternal uncle = BROTHER of T's MOTHER — we need 'M brother of X' plus 'X mother of T'
2. Test option (i) M $ K @ T: M is the brother of K, and K is the mother of T — exactly brother-of-mother, the maternal uncle structure
3. Test option (ii) M @ K $ T: M is the mother of K, and K is the brother of T — siblings share the mother, so M becomes T's MOTHER, not the uncle
4. Only option (i) builds the required structure, so it is the answer

Answer: Expression (i): M $ K @ T

📝 Exam-Level Example

Q. With the same legend, in 'A % B # C $ D @ E', how is A related to E?

1. A % B → A is the wife of B, so A is female and B is male
2. B # C and C $ D → B is the father of C, and C is D's brother — siblings share the father, so B is D's father too
3. A, being the wife of the father, is the mother of C and D — the wife symbol creates the second parent
4. D @ E → D is the mother of E, and the mother symbol confirms D is female
5. A is the mother of E's MOTHER — a mother-side link, so A is the maternal grandmother (nani)

Answer: Maternal grandmother (nani)

🪄 Memory Trick

Decode the chain into a mini family tree, not into sentences alone — drop each person onto a generation level as you read; the final relation is just 'how many levels apart, and from which side'.

⚠️ Common Mistakes

• ❌ Forgetting that siblings share parents — the mother or father must jump across every $ (brother) link
• ❌ Marking dadi where the chain runs through the mother (nani) — always check the LAST parent link
• ❌ Assuming the gender of the person at the question's end — the chain fixes everyone else's gender, not necessarily theirs

🏆 Exam Tips

• ✅ Rewrite the legend at the top of your rough sheet — mixing up @ and # mid-chain is the most common slip
• ✅ For 'which expression' questions, build the target structure FIRST and test options against it — never fully decode every option

📌 Summary

• New symbols, old method: translate left to right, one link at a time
• Sibling links let parents jump across the chain
• Wife/husband symbols create the second parent and fix gender
• The last parent link decides paternal (dada/dadi) vs maternal (nana/nani)