GRADE 8 English MODERN FASHION – READING:COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES Notes
READING: COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES — Grammar focus
Subject: English | Topic: Modern Fashion | Age: 13 (Kenya)
Help you use grammar to understand reading passages about modern fashion (e.g., clothes, designers, trends). Grammar points below are short, with examples related to Kenyan contexts (markets, designers, school life).
How grammar helps reading comprehension
Knowing grammar helps you spot important ideas, understand who does what, when things happen, and how ideas connect. This makes it easier to answer questions about a text about modern fashion (e.g., why a style is popular, who designed it).
Nouns name people, places, things. Proper nouns name specific names (Nairobi Market, Kitenge, Auntie Mary).
Example: "The kitenge is colourful." (kitenge = common noun) — "Kiko's Designs is famous in Nairobi." (Kiko's Designs = proper noun)
Adjectives describe nouns (colour, size, material). Order: opinion → size → age → colour → material → noun.
Example: "A lovely small new red cotton dress." → "A lovely small red cotton dress."
Use comparatives to compare two things and superlatives for the most/least.
Examples: "This blazer is smarter than that one." / "This is the most popular design at the market."
- Present simple: facts and general trends. ("People wear sneakers.")
- Present continuous: actions happening now. ("Designers are creating new patterns.")
- Past simple: finished events. ("She designed the dress last year.")
- Present perfect: changes over time or experiences. ("Kenya has seen many fashion shows recently.")
When the actor is not important or unknown: subject receives the action.
Example: "The dress was made from recycled fabric." (Who made it is not the focus)
Use relative clauses to add information about a person or thing.
Examples: "The tailor who works in Nakuru makes colourful shirts." / "The fabric that she chose is soft."
Words that join ideas: because, although, however, therefore, while. They show reason, contrast, result, or time.
Example: "Although uniforms are common, many students wear modern shoes."
Can, may, should, might, must — show ability, permission, advice, or possibility.
Example: "Students should choose clothes that are comfortable." / "This style may become popular next term."
Change direct speech to reported speech: shift tense back and remove quotation marks.
Example: Direct: "I love kitenge," she said. → Reported: She said (that) she loved kitenge.
Commas, full stops, and quotation marks show sentence boundaries and direct speech. This helps you find opinions, facts and quotes in a text.
Example: "She said, 'The print is new this season.'" (quotation shows exact words)
Short Practice (use grammar to understand the sentence)
- Underline the adjective(s): "A bright yellow shirt is on sale."
- Make comparative: "This jacket is expensive." (compare with another: "that jacket")
- Put into passive: "The designer makes the dress."
- Combine into one sentence using a relative clause: "I met a tailor. He lives in Kisumu."
- Change to reported speech: She said, "I will sell my skirts at the market."
- Adjectives: bright, yellow.
- Comparative: "This jacket is more expensive than that jacket." (or "That jacket is cheaper than this one.")
- Passive: "The dress is made by the designer." (or "The dress was made by the designer" depending on time)
- Relative clause: "I met a tailor who lives in Kisumu."
- Reported speech: She said that she would sell her skirts at the market.
- Spot verbs and tenses to know when actions happened.
- Find adjectives to paint a picture of clothes.
- Use connectors to see reasons and contrasts (why a style is liked or not).
- When you meet direct speech, change it to reported speech to summarise interviews.
Happy reading — think like a grammar detective! 👗🧵👟