The Chair: NCERT Class 6 English Story (Poorvi)

etmantra3 Nov 20265 min read

Mario boasts that he has lots of friends, so his grandfather sets him a funny test with a chair nobody can see. This story makes children laugh and then think: who are my true friends? It also teaches how suffixes like -ful, -ly and -ship build new words.

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From NCERT’s new English book Poorvi for Class 6, unit “Friendship”. Unit 2.

What your child learns

What makes a true friend, and how it differs from a companion
Root words and suffixes: friend + ly, help + ful, courage + ous
Adjectives that describe people and things: brave, determined, invisible
Writing a short thank-you message to a friend

What the story is about

Mario is a boy who loves having many friends and often boasts about it. His grandfather bets him a fruit chaat that many of these are only companions, not real friends. To help Mario test them, Grandpa brings an invisible chair from the attic and says that if Mario can sit on it at school, the magic will show him his real friends.

At break time Mario gathers his classmates in a circle and tries to sit on the chair. He keeps missing and falling, and most children laugh, but he does not give up. At last he seems to sit in mid-air: Guneet, Asma and Deepa are holding him up so he will not fall. Mario understands that true friends care for us and do not enjoy our bad luck. The four friends visit Grandpa, who has won the bet, and enjoy stories and fruit chaat together.

New words, with Hindi meanings

show off: to boast; to try to make others notice how good you are (हिंदी: शेखी बघारना)
bet: an agreement that the loser of a guess will give the winner something (हिंदी: शर्त)
companion: a person you spend a lot of time with (हिंदी: साथी)
readily: quickly and without any problem (हिंदी: तुरंत, ख़ुशी से)
attic: a storage space just under the roof of a house (हिंदी: अटारी)
invisible: impossible to see (हिंदी: अदृश्य)
determined: firm in your decision; not ready to give up (हिंदी: दृढ़ निश्चयी)
amazing: very surprising (हिंदी: अद्भुत)
backside: the part of the body you sit on (हिंदी: कूल्हे)
experienced: felt or went through something (हिंदी: अनुभव किया)

Talk about it

Ask these aloud after reading or watching. Let your child answer in English if they can, or mix in their home language. Both help.

What bet did Mario's grandfather make with him?
Why was it tricky to sit on the chair?
What happened when Mario finally seemed to sit on the chair?
What did Mario learn about true friends?
Think of a time a friend helped you when things went wrong. What did they do?

Answers for parents

Grandpa bet Mario a fruit chaat that he did not have as many real friends as he thought. Many of them were only companions or partners.
The chair was invisible, so Mario could not see where the seat was. He kept missing it and falling.
He did not fall. Guneet, Asma and Deepa were holding him up, while many others only laughed at him.
True friends care for us. A real friend does not enjoy it when we have bad luck.
For example: When I fell in the playground, my friend Riya helped me up and took me to the teacher.

Grammar corner: Root words and suffixes

A suffix is a group of letters added at the end of a root word to make a new word, like friend + ly = friendly. Common suffixes are -ly, -ful, -ing, -ed, -al, -tion, -ous and -ship. Sometimes the spelling changes a little: care + ing = caring, carry + ed = carried.

Grandpa was very careful when he carried the invisible chair.
Mario's friendship with Deepa grew stronger after the test.
It was a wonderful evening with stories and fruit chaat.

Practice at home

Add a suffix to make a new word: help + ___ = helpful, friend + ___ = friendship, courage + ___ = courageous.
Fill in the blank with an adjective: Mario was ___ and did not give up even after falling many times.
Make a sentence with the word 'caring'.

Answers: 1. -ful, -ship, -ous · 2. determined (or brave, strong-willed) · 3. My sister is caring; she makes me tea when I am ill.

Try this

Play the true friend game at home. Each person writes one quality of a good friend on a slip of paper, such as honest, kind or loyal. Mix the slips, pick one, and tell a short real story of a time someone showed that quality. Then turn the word into a new one with a suffix, like kind into kindly or kindness.

Tip for parents

Ask your child in Hindi first: 'सच्चा दोस्त कौन होता है?' Let them answer in Hindi, then help them say it in English, for example 'A true friend cares for us.' Praise every try, even if they mix both languages, and ask them to name one friend who once helped them.

Questions parents ask

What is the moral of The Chair?

True friends are those who care for us and help us when we fall. A real friend never enjoys our bad luck.

Who are the characters in The Chair?

Mario, his grandfather, and his three real friends Guneet, Asma and Deepa, along with Mario's other classmates who laugh at him.

Is The Chair in the new NCERT book?

Yes. The Chair is in NCERT's new Poorvi book for Class 6, Unit 2 (Friendship).

Learn every Class 6 chapter with CALP

Every chapter of Poorvi, NCERT’s new Class 6 book, with notes in English and Hindi, say-it-aloud practice with a score, listening, grammar, speaking and writing with feedback. ₹1,599 for the whole year.

See the free lessons and enrol →