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NCERT Solutions for Class 5th English Chapter 6 A. Group discussion · B. Three examples · C. Say it aloud — Let us Speak

Book page 73 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.
There are many ways in which we can save water. The simplest way is to stop the wastage of water. Sit in groups of three and discuss: • How do we waste water in our daily lives? • What can we do to stop this wastage? For example: Using running water to brush teeth wastes a lot of water. We can use a tumbler or a mug to save water.
Answer

How to hold the discussion:

  1. Step 1. Sit in a group of three. Choose one person to write and one to speak for the group.
  2. Step 2. Each person thinks of the water used in their own house from morning to night — brushing, bathing, washing, cooking, cleaning, the garden.
  3. Step 3. For every way of wasting water, at once say how to stop it. Never leave a problem without its answer.
  4. Step 4. Speak in full sentences: “We waste water when … We can save it by …”

Sample answer — what our group discussed:

How we waste waterWhat we can do to stop it
Leaving the tap running while brushing our teethFill a mug or tumbler once and use only that. (the book’s own example)
A tap that drips all day and nightTell an elder at once and get the washer changed. A dripping tap can waste buckets in a day.
Letting the overhead tank overflowSwitch the pump off in time, or ask for a float valve to be fitted.
Bathing under a running shower for a long timeUse a bucket and mug. Two buckets are enough for a good bath.
Washing the courtyard or the scooter with a running hoseUse a bucket and a cloth. Even better, use the water left over from washing clothes.
Throwing away the water left in our bottles at the end of the dayPour it into a plant pot or the bird bowl.
Washing vegetables under a running tapWash them in a bowl, then pour that water on the tulsi plant.
Running the tap while soaping the dishesSoap all the dishes first, then open the tap once to rinse them together.
Watering the garden in the hot afternoonWater early in the morning or in the evening, when less of it dries away.
Why stopping wastage is the simplest way: To store more water you need a tank, a pump and money. To stop wasting water you need nothing at all — only a mug and a little care. Every drop you do not waste is a drop you have saved, today, for free.
Q2.
Write at least three such examples and share with the class.
Answer

Choose three from your group’s list — the three you have really seen happening at home — and write each one as a pair of sentences.

What a good answer needs: each example must say (1) exactly how the water is wasted, and (2) exactly what you will do instead. Write in full sentences, not in single words.

Sample answer — my three examples:

  1. The dripping tap. The tap in our courtyard drips all night and the water runs into the drain. I have put a bucket under it, and I have asked my father to get the washer changed this Sunday.
  2. The overflowing tank. Our overhead tank overflows almost every morning because we forget to switch the pump off. Now I set an alarm on my mother’s phone for fifteen minutes, and whoever hears it runs up and switches the pump off.
  3. The washing-up tap. At home the tap used to run the whole time the dishes were being soaped. Now we soap all the dishes first and open the tap only once, to rinse them together. We fill half a bucket less than before.

Two more you could use: using a bucket instead of a shower; watering the plants with the water in which the rice was washed.

Tip for sharing with the class: Speak slowly and look up at the class, not down at your notebook. Say the problem first and the answer second — it is easier for others to follow.
Q3.
Say aloud, ‘What a tank!’ and ‘Water tank’. • Do both phrases use the word ‘tank’? Yes/No • Do they mean the same thing? Yes/No
Answer

• Do both phrases use the word ‘tank’? — YES.
• Do they mean the same thing? — NO.

Say them aloud and listen to your own voice. They come out quite differently.

PhraseWhat it doesHow you say it
What a tank!It shows a strong feeling — surprise and admiration at one particular tank.Loudly, with your voice rising and stopping short.
Water tankIt only names a thing — the kind of tank that holds water.Flatly and calmly, like any ordinary name.

So the same little word tank is doing two different jobs. In What a tank! it is part of an exclamation. In water tank it is part of the plain name of an object.

Why this matters: A word does not carry its whole meaning by itself. The words around it, and the way you say it, finish the meaning. That is why the chapter is called What a Tank! and not Water Tank — the title is meant to sound surprised.
Try this with another word: Say “What a day!” and then “Sunday”. Both have day in them. Only one of them is a shout of feeling.
Q4.
Now, say aloud, ‘I scream’ and ‘Ice cream’. • Do both phrases sound the same? Yes/No • Do they mean the same thing? Yes/No
Answer

• Do both phrases sound the same? — YES.
• Do they mean the same thing? — NO.

Say them one after the other, quickly: I scream … ice cream … I scream … ice cream. Your mouth makes almost exactly the same sounds both times.

PhraseWhat it meansWhere the break comes
I screamA sentence. It means “I shout loudly.”I  |  scream
Ice creamThe name of a thing — the cold sweet we eat.Ice  |  cream
Why they sound the same: When we speak, we do not leave gaps between words. The sounds run into one another. The string of sounds is the same in both — ai-s-k-r-ee-m. Only the place where we break it changes: after I, or after ice. Move the break and you move the meaning.
More pairs to try aloud: an ice man / a nice man · grade A / grey day · some more / some ore · a name / an aim. Say each pair to a friend and ask which one they heard.
Both questions together: With What a tank! / Water tank the words are shared but the meaning is different. With I scream / Ice cream the sounds are shared but the words themselves are different. English plays both these tricks.
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