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A language course enhances the ability to communicate and use the language in everyday circumstances. Encouraging students to use language effectively in real-world situations is the primary objective of the CBSE board's English Communicative course. If you are a CBSE Class 10 student and you chose the communication option for English, this section contains the updated, comprehensive syllabus.
Download the latest CBSE Class 10 English Communicative Syllabus.
This syllabus outlines the subjects you will study, the grading scheme, the format of the question papers, and the internal assessment procedure. The complete CBSE Class 10 English (Communicative) syllabus will soon be available for download as a PDF here.
Students may often be confused between the syllabus of Class 10 English Language and Literature & Class English Communicative. The English Language and Literature Syllabus is about Literature & focuses on Prose and Poetry. The English Communicative syllabus is for students who want to go with the language.
Stay tuned for more updates and get ready to level up your English skills!
Section A: Reading Skills
Section B: Writing Skills
This section will have a variety of short and long writing tasks.
Section C: Grammar
Grammar items will be taught and assessed over some time.
The above items may be tested through test types as given below:
Section D: Literature Textbook
This can also be a passage-based question taken from a situation/plot from the texts. (150 words).
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has recommended specific NCERT books for students preparing for the Class 10 Communicative English exam. These books help improve language skills, comprehension, and literary appreciation.
English Course (Communicative): Literature Reader
This is the primary textbook for Class 10 Communicative English. It includes a collection of stories and poems designed to enhance students' understanding of English literature and language. The book contains the following chapters:
Stories & Plays
The story Two Gentlemen of Verona, written by A.J. Cronin, is about two young boys, Nicola and Jacopo, who show incredible dedication, hard work, and selflessness. The narrator, a traveller, meets these boys in the city of Verona, Italy. Despite their poor and shabby appearance, the boys are always busy doing various jobs, such as selling newspapers, shining shoes, and running errands.
Impressed by their determination, the narrator offers to help. Eventually, he learns that they are working tirelessly to take care of their sick sister, Lucia, who is suffering from tuberculosis and is in a hospital. Despite their struggles, they never complain and remain hopeful and responsible.
The story highlights themes of sacrifice, love, and resilience. Nicola and Jacopo, though young, display maturity and selflessness, proving that true gentlemen are not defined by wealth or status but by their actions and character.
Mrs. Packletide’s Tiger by Saki (H.H. Munro) is a humorous short story that satirises human vanity and competitiveness. Mrs. Packletide, a wealthy and boastful woman, wishes to shoot a tiger—not for adventure, but simply to outshine her social rival, Loona Bimberton, who had recently taken a flight in an aeroplane.
To achieve her goal, Mrs. Packletide offers a large sum of money to the villagers to arrange a tiger hunt. The villagers find an old, weak tiger that barely moves, ensuring an easy kill. On the day of the hunt, Mrs. Packletide fires her gun, but the tiger dies of a heart attack caused by the gunshot's noise, rather than the bullet itself.
Her paid companion, Miss Mebbin, discovers the truth and later blackmails Mrs Packletide into buying her an expensive cottage in return for her silence. In the end, Mrs. Packletide gives up hunting altogether, realising that vanity comes at a price. The story mocks human pride and superficiality, showing how people go to great lengths for social status, often leading to amusing and ironic consequences.
The Letter is a touching short story by Dhumaketu that highlights themes of love, patience, and hope. It revolves around an old man named Ali, a former hunter, who now spends his days waiting at the post office for a letter from his only daughter, Miriam. She had left him after getting married, and he had not heard from her in years.
Every day, Ali visits the post office, eagerly asking if there is a letter for him, but he is always disappointed. The post office employees mock him, seeing him as a mad old man. Eventually, Ali grows weak and ill, yet his hope never fades. One day, he does not turn up, and the postmaster realises Ali’s suffering only when he anxiously waits for news of his sick daughter.
Later, a letter from Miriam finally arrives, but by then, Ali has passed away. The postmaster, now filled with regret, asks his assistant to place the letter on Ali’s grave. The story beautifully portrays the emotions of longing, love, and the realisation that people often understand others’ pain only when they experience it themselves.
A Shady Plot is a humorous ghost story about a writer named John Hallock, who is struggling to come up with a new ghost story. His publisher insists that ghost stories sell well, but John is completely out of ideas.
One day, while sitting alone, he suddenly hears the voice of a ghost named Helen. She tells him that she is part of a group of ghosts who are tired of being summoned by writers for their stories. She warns him to stop writing ghost stories, as they are disturbing the spirit world.
At the same time, John’s wife, Lavinia, becomes suspicious when she finds him acting strangely. Things take a funny turn when she discovers a Ouija board at a party and the ghosts use it to reveal John’s connection to Helen. Lavinia, thinking her husband is hiding something, gets upset and threatens to leave him. Eventually, with some quick thinking, John manages to convince her that there is nothing to worry about.
The story is a light-hearted take on supernatural themes, blending humour with the idea that ghosts, like people, also have their frustrations. It also plays with the idea of writer’s block and the struggles of creativity.
Patol Babu, Film Star is an inspiring short story about an ordinary man’s passion for acting. Patol Babu, an elderly, simple, and once-aspiring actor, is given a small role in a film. Though excited at first, he is disappointed to learn that his only dialogue is a single word: "Oh!"
At first, he feels let down, but then he remembers his mentor’s advice that no role is small—it is the way an actor performs that matters. Determined to give his best, he practises different ways of saying "Oh!" with the right emotions and expressions.
When the moment comes, Patol Babu delivers his dialogue with complete dedication. However, once the scene is shot, he quietly leaves without even waiting for payment. He is satisfied, knowing that he has given his best performance, proving that true artists value their work over fame or money.
The story highlights themes of passion, self-respect, and dedication, showing how even small moments can have great meaning when approached with sincerity.
Virtually True is a science fiction story that explores the world of virtual reality and its unexpected consequences. The narrator, a young boy, comes across a newspaper article about a boy named Sebastian Shultz, who was in a coma but mysteriously recovered. The narrator realises he has encountered Sebastian before—not in real life, but inside a virtual reality game.
It all began when the narrator played a set of interactive computer games using virtual reality headgear. In each game, he met a boy named Sebastian who desperately asked for help. Each time, the narrator tries to save him, but the game fails. Eventually, in a game called Warzone, the narrator successfully rescues Sebastian, and soon after, Sebastian wakes up from his coma in real life.
Later, the narrator discovers that Sebastian had been injured in a car accident and his mind got trapped inside the computer due to experimental virtual reality technology. By playing the games, the narrator unknowingly helps him escape.
The story explores the fine line between reality and technology, questioning how advanced gaming can influence our lives in unexpected ways.
The Dear Departed is a humorous yet thought-provoking play that satirises the selfishness and greed of people when it comes to inheritance. The story revolves around an old man, Abel Merryweather, and his two daughters, Amelia and Elizabeth, who only care about his money and possessions.
One morning, Amelia finds her father lying still in bed and assumes that he is dead. Instead of mourning, she and her husband, Ben, immediately start discussing how to divide his belongings. Elizabeth arrives with her husband, Henry, and joins in, showing no real sadness over their father’s supposed death. They even argue over who will take his things, especially his new slippers and insurance money.
However, to their shock, Abel suddenly wakes up, revealing that he was just sleeping. Realising how greedy his daughters are, he decides to change his will and leave everything to a kind neighbour instead. He also announces that he will live on his own, refusing to stay with his ungrateful daughters.
The play highlights the themes of greed, family hypocrisy, and how people often value money more than relationships. It humorously delivers a strong message, showing how selfishness can lead to unexpected consequences.
Julius Caesar is a historical tragedy that explores themes of power, betrayal, and fate. The play revolves around the assassination of the Roman leader Julius Caesar and its aftermath.
Julius Caesar was a popular and powerful general, but some Roman senators, led by Cassius and Brutus, feared that he was becoming too ambitious and might turn into a dictator. Despite warnings from a soothsayer ("Beware the Ides of March") and his wife, Calpurnia, Caesar goes to the Senate on March 15th, where he is brutally stabbed to death by the conspirators, including his close friend Brutus.
After the murder, Mark Antony, Caesar’s loyal friend, cleverly turns the Roman people against the conspirators through a powerful speech ("Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears") that highlights Caesar’s kindness and exposes the betrayal. This sparks a civil war.
Brutus and Cassius are eventually defeated by Antony and Octavius (Caesar’s adopted son) in battle. Overcome with guilt, Brutus takes his own life, and the play ends with Antony praising him as "the noblest Roman of them all." The play highlights the dangers of political ambition, the consequences of betrayal, and the struggle between fate and free will.
Poems
The Frog and the Nightingale is a fable-like poem that teaches an important lesson about self-confidence and the dangers of blindly trusting others.
In a bog, a loud and croaky frog sings every night, annoying the other creatures. One day, a sweet-voiced nightingale arrives and sings beautifully, capturing everyone’s admiration. The jealous frog tricks her into believing that she needs training to improve. Pretending to be an expert, he forces her to practise in bad weather and even charges her for his "coaching."
Over time, the nightingale loses her natural charm, becomes exhausted, and starts doubting herself. The frog constantly criticises her, making her feel worthless. Eventually, under pressure, she strains her voice too much and dies. The cunning frog, however, feels no remorse and continues singing as before.
The poem highlights the importance of self-belief and warns against manipulative people who take advantage of others' innocence and talent. It teaches that true success comes from confidence and staying true to oneself.
In Sonnet 55, Shakespeare explores the theme of immortality through poetry. He begins by saying that grand monuments made of marble and gold will eventually decay over time, but poetry has the power to last forever. Unlike statues and buildings, which can be destroyed by time, war, and nature, the words written in a poem will keep someone’s memory alive.
The poet assures the person he is writing about (likely his beloved or a patron) that as long as people read this poem, their names and achievements will never be forgotten. He believes that poetry is more powerful than any physical monument because it preserves someone’s legacy for future generations.
The sonnet conveys the idea that art and literature have a timeless quality, allowing love, beauty, and honour to survive long after everything else fades away.
Ozymandias is a poem about the fleeting nature of power and the inevitable decline of all rulers. The poem is written as a story told by a traveller who comes across the ruins of a massive statue in the desert. The statue is broken, with only its legs standing and the head lying half-buried in the sand. The face of the statue has a proud and arrogant expression, showing that the ruler it represented thought highly of himself.
On the pedestal of the statue, an inscription reads:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
The irony is that nothing of his great empire remains—only ruins surrounded by endless empty desert. This shows that no matter how powerful a ruler may be, time will eventually erase all their achievements.
The poem serves as a reminder that human pride, power, and glory are temporary, while nature and time are far more powerful and enduring.
The poem tells the story of an old sailor, the Ancient Mariner, who stops a wedding guest to share a strange and haunting tale from his past. He recalls how his ship was sailing smoothly until it was caught in a terrible storm and pushed toward the icy waters of the South Pole. There, the sailors encountered an albatross, a large seabird, which they believed was a sign of good luck. However, for no reason, the Mariner shot and killed the bird.
At first, the other sailors were unsure whether this was good or bad, but soon, misfortune struck. The wind stopped, leaving the ship stuck in the middle of the ocean. The crew suffered from extreme thirst, and supernatural events began to unfold. A ghostly ship appeared, carrying Death and Life-in-Death, who gambled for the Mariner’s fate. Death won the lives of the other sailors, and they all dropped dead, leaving the Mariner alone with their staring eyes.
The Mariner suffered terribly but was finally freed from his curse when he unknowingly blessed the sea creatures, showing appreciation for nature. The albatross, which had been hanging around his neck as a symbol of guilt, fell off, and the ship was eventually guided back home by spirits. However, the Mariner was doomed to wander the earth, telling his story as a lesson to others. The poem teaches the importance of respecting nature and all living things, showing that human actions have consequences.
Snake is a poem that explores the conflict between human instincts and social teachings. The poet describes an encounter with a snake at a water trough on a hot day. As he waits for his turn to drink, he watches the snake calmly and admires its beauty and dignity.
However, his education and societal beliefs tell him that snakes are dangerous and must be killed. Torn between admiration and fear, he finally gives in to this conditioning and throws a log at the snake. The snake quickly retreats into a hole in the wall, unharmed but startled.
Instantly, the poet regrets his action and feels ashamed for attacking a harmless creature. He realises that the snake is a noble guest, and by trying to harm it, he acts in a petty and cowardly way. He compares himself to the "one who missed his chance with the king," showing that he now sees the snake as a majestic and royal being.
The poem highlights themes of respect for nature, inner conflict, and the way society influences human behaviour. It suggests that sometimes, instincts and emotions are more truthful than learned prejudices.
Listening Practice
Main Course Book (Revised Edition)
This book helps students develop strong reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills through various engaging lessons and activities.
Workbook (Revised Edition)
The workbook focuses on grammar, vocabulary, and writing exercises, allowing students to refine their language proficiency.
By studying these NCERT English books, students can build a strong foundation in English, preparing effectively for the Class 10 CBSE exam.
For adequate reasons, CBSE uploads the Class 10 English Communicative Syllabus before the commencement of the next academic year. This syllabus impacts students' academic advancement, hence it is important for teachers as well. The CBSE Class 10 English Communicative Syllabus for the 2025–2026 session is significant for the following reasons:
Language Skills Foundation: The basis for language skills development is provided by the Class 10 English Communicative syllabus, which covers reading, writing, speaking, and listening. These abilities are essential for both academic performance and successful communication in a variety of real-world contexts.
Improving English Communication Skills: The syllabus for CBSE Class 10 English communicative is meant to improve students' English communication abilities. Students gain the ability to express themselves clearly and effectively via a variety of activities, including debates, group discussions, presentations, and writing assignments.
Preparation: Students are better prepared for the forthcoming academic year when they have early access to the syllabus. They can acquaint themselves with the subjects they will be studying and make appropriate learning plans.
Advice for Teachers: The syllabus serves as the framework for the classes and examinations that teachers teach. It assures alignment with educational objectives and gives them a road map for what to teach.
Clarity: The learning objectives and student expectations are made clear by the syllabus. It aids in their comprehension of what they must do by the conclusion of the school semester.
Resource Organising: By adhering to the syllabus criteria, educators and students may efficiently arrange their resources. They can compile pertinent reference books, textbooks, and other teaching and learning aids.
Examination Preparation: Students can plan for examinations and tests by comprehending the evaluation criteria that are listed in the syllabus. In a similar vein, teachers can create tests that correspond with the material in the syllabus.
Listed the following easy ways to get started looking over the syllabus and making sure everyone who wants to can finish it on time, even though teachers will be guiding students through the CBSE Class 10 English Communicative Syllabus 2025-26 in schools during the academic year:
Go through the syllabus: Read the CBSE Class 10 English Communicative Syllabus for the 2025-26 session in detail first. Identify the subjects, chapters, and learning aims listed in the syllabus.
Make a Study Plan: Develop a study plan that divides the subject matter into manageable portions. Plan dedicated study times for every topic or chapter to guarantee even covering throughout the school year.
Use Resources: Arrange essential reference books, online files, and textbooks that are under the course programme. Make good use of these materials to bolster learning and improve comprehension.
Active Learning tactics: To actively interact with the syllabus content, use active learning tactics including group discussions, presentations, and hands-on exercises. This encourages conceptual retention and a deeper comprehension.
Regular Assessments: Use tests, quizzes, and mock examinations as part of a regular evaluation plan to evaluate student progress and pinpoint areas in need of more work. Adapt study programmes and tactics in light of assessment results to ensure timely completion.
The English Communicative Syllabus Class 10 CBSE 2025–26 includes every detail related to the subject that students in the 10th grade need to be familiar with. The Class 10 English Communicative Syllabus contains important information that students should utilise to organise their studies and be ready for the board examinations.
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