GRADE 8 English CHOOSING A CAREER – READING:LESSONS LEARNT Notes
READING: LESSONS LEARNT — Grammar Notes
Subject: English | Topic: CHOOSING A CAREER | Level: Age 13 (Kenya)
When Mary finished Form Four, she thought about her future. She chose to study nursing because she wanted to help sick people. Her father said, "You must work hard." Mary believed that hard work would pay off. Later, she told her friend that she had applied to a nursing college.
Key grammar points from the passage
Examples from passage: finished, chose, said.
Use: for events that started and ended in the past. Often used with time words (yesterday, last year, in 2019).
Example from passage: had applied — this is actually past perfect (see note).
Note: "had applied" is past perfect. Use past perfect to show one past action happened before another past action (e.g., She had applied before she moved).
Form: had + past participle. Example: had applied (she applied before she told her friend).
From passage: must (obligation). Other useful modals: should (advice), can (ability), might (possibility).
Examples: "You should study hard." / "You can ask a teacher for help."
Direct: He said, "I will help."
Reported: He said (that) he would help.
From passage: Direct - "You must work hard." → Reported - Her father said that she must (or had to) work hard.
Active: She applied to the college.
Passive: She was accepted to the college. (actor can be left out)
Use who / which / that: Her friend who lives nearby helped her.
For reason: because, so that. For contrast: although, but. From passage: because she wanted to help.
Use quotation marks for direct speech ("..."). Use commas before reported speech: He said, "...".
🔸 Past perfect — earlier past (had applied)
🔹 Modals — advice/obligation (must, should)
🔸 Reported speech — change tense & pronouns
🔹 Passive — object becomes subject
Exercises (try them)
- Identify the tense: "She chose to study nursing." → ___________________
- Change to reported speech: Father said, "You must work hard." → ___________________
- Make passive: "They accepted Mary to the college." → ___________________
- Combine using a relative clause: "She has a friend. The friend lives nearby." → ___________________
- Fill the correct modal: "You ______ ask a teacher for advice." (should / must / can)
- Correct punctuation and make it direct speech: Her mother said that she was proud → ___________________
- Change to past perfect: "She applied to the college." (make it earlier than 'she told her friend') → ___________________
Answers
- Past simple.
- Her father said (that) she must (or had to) work hard.
- Mary was accepted to the college. (or: She was accepted to the college.)
- She has a friend who lives nearby. (or: She has a friend who lives near her.)
- You should ask a teacher for advice. (can / must also possible depending on meaning)
- Direct speech: Her mother said, "I am proud of you." (or if mother spoke in past: Her mother said, "I was proud of you.")
- She had applied to the college. (This shows her application happened before she told her friend.)
- Find the verbs in a sentence and ask: When did the action happen? (present / past / before past)
- For reported speech, move the tense one step back in time (present → past, will → would).
- Use modals for advice: should = good idea, must = strong obligation.
- Practice by changing short sentences from the reading into reported speech or passive voice.
© Notes for classroom use. Keep practising the grammar using short reading passages (e.g., school stories, local news, KCSE-style texts).