NCERT Solutions for Class 8 English (Poorvi) 2026 27 Chapter wise

NCERT Solutions for Class 8 English provide detailed answers for the main textbook, Poorvi. The book contains 15 chapters organised into 5 thematic units .These solutions help students understand chapters, poetry, and prose in a simple and concise way.

Each answer is explained clearly to improve comprehension, vocabulary and answer-writing skills. Students can use these solutions for homework, revision and exam preparation. The NCERT solutions are based on the latest NCERT textbook and the 2026 exam pattern.

NCERT Solutions for Class 8 English (Poorvi) Chapter wise

Overview of Chapter-wise NCERT Solutions for Class 8 English

Unit 1: Wit and Wisdom 

Chapter 1 - The Wit that Won Hearts 

The first chapter discusses King Krishnadeva Raya's golden-era court and his advisor Tenali Rama, who resolves a royal misunderstanding. Students learn how the king grows angry and stops speaking to Queen Thirumalambal after she yawns while he reads her a poem he has written.

The chapter explains how the queen turns to Tenali Rama for help and he cleverly starts a public discussion in court about farmers yawning while sowing seeds, deliberately making the king yawn himself. It results in the king's realisation that yawning is natural and not an insult, prompting him to apologise to the queen and restore happiness to the palace. 

Chapter 2 - A Concrete Example 

This chapter is a poem about the speaker's quirky neighbour, Mrs. Jones, who maintains a garden filled almost entirely with stones. Students learn how her garden has a path, a lily pond, a rockery and a sundial with only a handful of tiny plants tucked between the rocks.

The chapter explains the poet's teasing about Mrs. Jones's unusual taste, especially when she proudly shows off a flower that turns out to be almost too small to notice. It also includes the poem's twist when the speaker realises he has literally been standing on the very flower Mrs. Jones is proud of.

Chapter 3 - Wisdom Paves the Way 

Chapter 3 discusses four young men who use sharp observation and reasoning to impress the King of Ujjain and prove their worth. Students learn how the group correctly deduces specific facts about a missing camel by examining footprints and signs along a path despite never having seen the animal themselves.

The chapter explains how a passing merchant grows suspicious and accuses them of theft when their description proves eerily accurate, forcing the young men to defend themselves before the king using logic. It also talks about the king's eventual recognition of their intelligence, leading to their employment and recognition in his court. 

Unit 2: Values and Dispositions 

Chapter 4 - A Tale of Valour: Major Somnath Sharma and the Battle of Badgam 

This chapter discusses the heroic story of Major Somnath Sharma, India's first recipient of the Param Vir Chakra during the Battle of Badgam in 1947. Students learn how Major Sharma, despite suffering an injured hand refuses to retreat even as his small unit faces larger enemy forces during the conflict over Kashmir.

The chapter explains his determination and leadership, choosing to stand firm and inspire his men rather than abandon their position. It also includes his final radio message to headquarters, reporting the critical situation with calm composure right up until his ultimate sacrifice.

Chapter 5 - Somebody's Mother 

This chapter discusses Mary Dow Brine's poem about an elderly, poor woman struggling to cross a busy snow-covered street on a cold winter's day. Students learn how a group of schoolboys, fresh out of school and full of energy, hurry past the frail woman without caring about her difficulty.

The chapter explains how one kind-hearted boy among them stops, gently takes her arm and helps her safely cross the slippery road, thinking fondly of his own mother as he does so. As the poem ends, the grateful old woman prays that night for blessings upon the boy who showed her such kindness. 

Chapter 6 - Verghese Kurien — I Too Had A Dream 

This chapter discusses a letter written by Dr. Verghese Kurien, known as the father of India's White Revolution, to his grandson Siddharth about his life choices and values. Students learn how Kurien explains that, despite having opportunities to become a metallurgy executive, an army officer or a successful NRI abroad, he chose instead to dedicate his life to working with farmers in Anand, Gujarat.

The chapter explains how his wife fully supported this decision despite the limited comforts available in rural Anand at the time, giving him the strength to embrace his responsibilities. It also includes his reflections on humility, integrity and the deep satisfaction of contributing to the common good rather than pursuing personal wealth or status. 

Unit 3: Mystery and Magic 

Chapter 7 - The Case of the Fifth Word 

This chapter discusses a mystery involving young detective Encyclopedia Brown, whose police-chief father struggles with an unsolved jewellery heist case. Students learn how a criminal named Tim Nolan, dying after the original robbery leaves behind a coded message on a will, hinting at where he and his accomplice Davenport hid the stolen jewellery before disappearing.

The chapter explains how Encyclopedia, listening carefully at the dinner table, manages to crack the secret code in the will before dinner is even finished. It also includes his sharp and logical reasoning process, impressing even his experienced detective father with his ability to solve cases that baffled trained adults. 

Chapter 8 - The Magic Brush of Dreams 

This chapter is a folk tale about Gopi, a girl entrusted with a magical paintbrush on the condition that she uses it only to help the poor and never for selfish reasons. Students learn how a greedy Zamindar tries to pressure Gopi into using her magical paintbrush for his own personal benefit, which she firmly refuses to do, honouring the promise she made when receiving the brush.

The chapter shows that when she is imprisoned for her defiance, and uses her magic brush to paint a horse and a road that miraculously come to life, allowing her to escape. It also includes her defeat of the pursuing Zamindar and his men, painted into existence by a mighty river and beast that force them to flee.

Chapter 9 - Spectacular Wonders 

This chapter discusses a series of India's most extraordinary natural phenomena. Students learn about the Valley of Flowers in Uttarakhand, home to roughly 600 species of exotic blooms and rare wildlife, as well as the centuries-old Living Root Bridges of Meghalaya.

The chapter explains other remarkable sites, including the meteorite-formed Lonar Crater Lake in Maharashtra, the optical illusion of the Magnetic Hills in Ladakh and the bioluminescent waters of Kumbalangi village in Kerala. It also includes the vast Sundarbans mangrove forest in West Bengal and the vanishing sea at Chandipur Beach in Odisha caused by unusual tidal patterns.

Unit 4: Environment 

Chapter 10 - The Cherry Tree 

This chapter is Ruskin Bond's story of Rakesh, a boy living with his grandfather in the Himalayan foothills near Mussoorie, who plants a single cherry seed almost by accident. Students learn how Rakesh, after eating cherries bought in the bazaar, presses the last seed into the soil on his grandfather's advice and then forgets all about it as he runs off to play.

The chapter explains his surprise the following spring when he discovers the seed has sprouted into a twig, prompting him to begin watering, protecting and nurturing the growing tree over several years, despite setbacks from animals and harsh winters. It also includes the tree's growth into a flowering, fruit-bearing plant, leading Rakesh to wonder whether nurturing something into life is what it feels like to be God.

Chapter 11 - Harvest Hymn 

This chapter discusses Sarojini Naidu's poem celebrating the joy and gratitude of a successful harvest season in rural India. The poem is structured around the voices of men, women and the entire community together, each offering thanks to different natural and divine forces responsible for their prosperity.

The chapter explains how the men praise Surya, the sun god and Varuna, the rain god for nurturing their crops with warmth and timely rainfall, while the women honour Prithvi, the earth, as a nurturing mother who sustains all life. It also includes the poem's unifying final verse where all voices join together to praise a divine presence described as both the Seed and the Scythe of their harvest, symbolising the eternal cycle of creation and completion.

Chapter 12 - Waiting for the Rain 

This chapter discusses Velu, a hardworking and sincere farmer whose fertile land turns dry and cracked when the expected monsoon rains fail to arrive. Students learn how Velu, unlike many fellow villagers who turn to astrologers and rituals for answers, instead travels to the city to consult the weather office, only to find that even scientific experts are puzzled by the unusual absence of rain.

The chapter explains his discouraged journey home, where he rests beneath a shady tree and meets a wise old woman who gently suggests that perhaps the land itself, like a tired person, simply needs time to rest and recover after years of continuous cultivation. In the end, as Velu, reflecting on her words, was walking home, he suddenly felt a cool breeze and the season's first raindrops, finally bringing the long-awaited monsoon.

Unit 5: Science and Curiosity 

Chapter 13 - Feathered Friend 

This chapter discusses Arthur C. Clarke's science-fiction story set aboard a space station where a construction worker named Sven Olsen secretly keeps a pet canary named Claribel. Students learn how Claribel quickly becomes a beloved presence among the crew, having adapted to life in zero gravity, floating gracefully and even performing loops no earthbound canary could manage.

The chapter explains the alarming morning when the crew finds Claribel mysteriously collapsed and motionless, leading them to revive her with oxygen, unaware at first of what had actually caused her distress. It also includes the speaker’s realisation, recalling how canaries were historically used in mines to detect dangerous gases, leading the crew to discover a serious malfunction in the station's air purifier that could have proven fatal to everyone aboard. 

Chapter 14 - Magnifying Glass 

This chapter discusses Walter de la Mare's poem celebrating how a simple magnifying glass can reveal extraordinary hidden details within ordinary objects. Students learn how the poet describes a tiny scrap of chalk revealing many hidden shells under magnification, while a single inch of moss transforms into what looks like an entire forest of flowers and trees.

The chapter explains further observations, including a drop of water appearing to buzz with the activity of a beehive and a spider's skilful web-spinning process becoming visible in detail. It also includes the poem's closing thought, imagining that with powerful enough lenses, even the distant moon might somehow feel within human reach. 

Chapter 15 - Bibha Chowdhuri: The Beam of Light that Lit the Path for Women in Indian Science 

The last chapter discusses the life of Bibha Chowdhuri, a pioneering Indian physicist who made significant contributions to cosmic ray and particle physics research during the mid 20th century. Students learn how Chowdhuri, often the only woman in her research environments, worked under and alongside renowned scientists studying cosmic ray particles using photographic plate techniques.

The chapter explains her groundbreaking contributions to identifying mesons and her later work at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, where her research helped further the discovery of K mesons, despite facing significant gender-based barriers and limited institutional help throughout her career. It ends with the long-overdue acknowledgement of her achievements decades later, as historians worked to document her contributions after years of being largely overlooked in the history of Indian physics.