Can a derived class access private members of a base class?

Short answer: No, private members are hidden from derived classes. Can access protected, internal, or public members. class Vehicle { private int id; protected string model; }

Example code

class Car : Vehicle { /* cannot access id, can access model */ }

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest has a base PaymentMethod with virtual decimal Fee(). UpiPayment and CardPayment override the fee logic without changing the checkout caller.

Say this in the interview

1. Define — one clear sentence (the short answer above).
2. Example — relate it to a project like ShopNest or your real work.
3. Trade-off — when you would not use it.