Hi Frank, I am having trouble thinking of contexts in which I would say any of these sentences with an exclamation point. I also am not sure what you are asking. What do you mean by both? Both sentences in each pair? Or both pairs of sentences? At any rate, -How could they relate! would be an unusual sentence. If one wanted to express this idea, you would use the regular S-V word order: "How they could relate!" But both these mean "I am surprised, or it is fascinating, that these two people could relate [understand each other]." -How could they be related(?)! is a question, asking how two people could be related to each other by blood in someway. George W Bush and Chariman Mao: how could they be related?! How could they be relatives?! ~~~~~~~~~~~ The same comments apply to your second pair. How he could relate to her is something I've never understood. (How he could connect with, or understand her, is something I've never understood.) How could he be related to her?! I saw them kissing the other day.

Your question is not super clear to me but I will do my best. To relate is to understand someone's perspective or view point. To be related to someone is to have a tie through family blood or marriage. For example, I can relate to people who do not like sitting in traffic. I can also relate to people who like to eat strawberries. But, I am related to my mother and I am related to my brother. They = multiple people He = Male She = Female

The word "relate" in that context would most likely be interpreted as either empathising, or giving an account of events, such as in "I can relate to what you said", or "He related what had happened to his finger to the doctor." On the other hand, the word "related" would more often be interpreted as having a filial connection, like a mother is related to her son. It may help if you look up the various meanings of relate, which is both a noun and a verb! The sentences are all natural, but don't mean the same. Good luck!

Firstly, I was wondering why you used exclamation marks rather than question marks. Aren't these rhetorical questions? You are wondering how this could be, so you would need question marks. As the other members have said, 'relate' and 'be related' have clearly different meanings. to relate to someone = to empathise with someone to be related to someone = to be a member of that person's family So the two sentences in the first pair do have different meanings. It's unusual to see 'relate' on its own, but I'd understand the first sentence to be a short form of 'relate to each other' . If I said 'How can they relate ?', I'd be wondering how two people could understand each other's viewpoints. If I said 'How can they be related?' I'd be wondering about what their family connection might be. The difference would be just the same within the second pair of sentences.