Hohete Tibeb Share Company

Ethio Parents’ School, Addis Ababa (Gerji & Gullele campuses) & Hawassa

Centralized English Language Summarized Note & Worksheet for Grade

English Summary Note for Grade 8

Grammar Focus

Active and Passive Voice

Active Voice is when the grammatical subject performs the action.

Study the following sentences

1. Bemnet threw the ball.

2. Henok is going to make a good decision.
3. We will help the poor as quickly as possible.
1) (The subjects in the above sentences- Bemnet, Henok and
we perform the respective actions.)
Passive voice is when the grammatical subject is being acted upon by another
object.

Study the following sentences. ( The sentences are equivalent forms of the
above active sentences)

1. The ball was thrown by Bemnet.

2. A good decision is being made( by Henok)
3. The poor will be helped by us as quickly as possible.
2) (The subjects of the above sentences are ‘ the ball, a good
decision and we’. However, these subjects do not perform
actions.)
3) When changing an active voice into its equivalent passive,
we must apply the form ‘ BE’ followed by the past participle
of the given verb in the active.
Examples:
 a) I read some stories.( active voice)
b) Some stories are read.( passive voice)
c) We are sending the necessary money.(Active voice)
d) The necessary money is being sent.( passive voice)
Exercise

Write the passive equivalent for the active forms given below.
1. They collected the coins.

2. We have arranged the tables and chairs.

3. She will buy me a chocolate.

4. He is fixing the car.

5. My sister has done her homework.

6. He sold the car.

7. We are cleaning the rooms.

8. My parents have saved a lot of money.

9. Are you going to help them?

10. People speak Spanish around here.

Relative clauses

Relative clauses are type of clauses that can serve as adjectives to give
additional information. They are formed from relative pronouns( who, which,
that, whom, etc.)

Examples:
1. Here is the boy. The boy gave me the money.
Here is the boy who gave me the money.
The part in bold is a relative clause. It gives additional information about the
boy.
2. Where is the girl? The girl’s father died a week ago.
Where is the girl whose father died a week ago?
3. I found the ring. I lost the ring last week.
I found the ring which/ that I lost last week.
Relative clauses are of two types:

Defining and Non- defining

Defining relative clauses help us to understand what or who is being referred

to. The clause provides essential information. (N.B. No comma is necessary to
set off the relative clause from the rest)

The girl who came here early is my sister. ( who came here early defines which
girl is being talked about)

Non- defining clauses do not define the noun. Simply, they give extra
information. (We use comma to set off the relative clause from the rest)

Example:

1. My house, which is near the bank, is very big.

2. My uncle is a dentist, who is working with you.

Exercise
Join the following pairs of sentences

1. Give me the money. You promised to lend me the money.

2. I love my mother very much. She is smart.

3. My civic teacher is very tall. He has been away for two weeks.

4. Our school is very nice. It is 2 kilometers from here.

5. Show me the boy. The boy didn’t finish the note.

6. Is this the girl? The girl’s sister came from Canada.

7. Our prime minister took power three years ago. People love him.

CORRELATIVE CONJUNCTIONS

Correlative conjunctions include pairs such as "both/and," "either/or," "neither/nor," "not/but"

and "not only/but also."

A. EITHER….OR: The correlative conjunction “either…or” is used to join two

positive options, and only one of the two options can come true, but
whichever.
EXAMPLES:
 1. Either you stay or leave.
2. The sound was either a firework or a gunshot.

B. NEITHER… NOR: Pairs up two negative options; not even one of the two cane
come true.
EXAMPLES:

1. The movie is neither comedy nor romantic.

2. You can neither watch a movie nor go out for a game.

C. NOT ONLY…BUT ALSO: This emphasizes that the second- mentioned thing can
equally be true to the first.
EXAMPLES:

1. He is not only clever, but also he is disciplined.

2. Not only is she a liar, but she is also a thief.

D. BOTH…. AND: This conjunction is used to indicate the two mentioned things
have equal chance to come true.
EXAMPLES:

1. Both Helen and Semira stopped talking to me.

2. We went both to the gallery and the theater.

AS…AS: If you want to compare two things and say that one contains a certain
quality to the same extent as the other, you can use the correlative conjunction
“as…as.”
EXAMPLES:

1. This is really as cold as ice.

2. Natnael is as tall as any basketball player.
Exercise
1. _________the picture___________ the sound is clear. Please search for
other channel.
A. Either /or B. Neither / nor C. Both /and D. Not only /but also
2. __________ sleep here with me _______ go home before it gets dark.
A. Both /and B. Neither /nor C. Either / or D. Not only /but also
3. My sister is _________high scorer _________obedient. That is why every
teacher likes her.
A. Both / and B. Neither / nor C. Either / or D. Not only /but
4. _________ Meron _______ her sister can attend the program. It is meant
only for adults.
A. Both /and B. Neither / nor C. Either / or D. Not only /but
5. Your answer is __________ intelligent _______ I expected.
 A. as…….as B. both…. and C. as……but D. as…….. to
6. We must ________ tell the truth________ accept the punishment. We have no other
alternative.
A. either……. nor B. neither…….. or C. neither….. nor D. either……or
7. Come with ___________ your sister _________ your brother. I want to talk to them.
8. They are _______ Japanese_______ Syrians. They are English.
9. My mother is_____ tyrant___________ my father.
10. I can ________ remember her name_______ recognize her face.

Some English Tenses

SIGNAL
TYPE OF TENSE WORDS USE FORM NEGATIVE
AND (
PHRASES AFFIRMATIVE
. every day •something
PRESEENT SIMPLE sometimes happens For negatives:
repeatedly
always,
•how often
he/she/it: - DON’T+ V1
often, something
infinitive + s - DOESN’T
usually, happens +V1
never, •one action
seldom follows
another
•things in
general
•with verbs
like (to love,
to hate, to
think, etc.)
•future
meaning:
timetable
. PRESENT Now, at the
PROGRESSIVE moment, something be (am/are/is) be (am/are/is) +not +ing
is +ing
look, listen
happening
at the same
time of
speaking or
around it
•future
meaning:
when you
have
already
decided and
arranged to
do it (a fixed
plan, date)
. SIMPLE PAST last ......, action took
place in regular: infinitive
ago in 1990, Did not + v1
the past, + ed irregular:
yesterday mostly (2nd column of
connected with table of irregular
an expression verbs)
of time
 . PRESENT just, never,
PERFECT ever, yet, have/has+ past Have/ has + not
•you say that participle*
already so *(infinitive + ed)
sth. has
far, up to happened or or (3rd column
now, since, is finished in of table of
for, recently the past and irregular verbs
it has a
connection to
the present
•action
started in the
past and
continues up
to the present

Exercise
Put the verbs in the brackets into correct tense.

1. I____________ to the cinema two nights ago.( go )

2. My friend ___________ music every night.( listen )

3. They ___________ this car. It looks new again.( clean )

4. Listen! The girls _________ the piano. ( play )

5. Dani ________________ that fiction this evening.( read )

6. Meron and Saron often ______________ lunch to school. ( take )

7. We ____________ them anything when they were here. ( not tell )

8. Wait! I________ to the station. ( drive )

9. He ___________ his sister in April. ( see )

10. We rarely _______________ to those places. ( go )

Reported Speech

Speeches can be reported either directly or indirectly, though indirect reporting is often
preferred and sounds more comfortable. When reporting indirectly, some changes are
expected: tense, ppronoun and time and place adverbs.
 → present simple to past simple → present perfect/ simple past to past perfect
→ present continuous to past cont → today to that day, now to then → here to
there.................

Examples:

Direct speech: I’m working here.

Indirect speech: the man said ( that ) he was working there( the place mentioned)

Direct sp: We need some money.

Ind. Sp: The girls said that they needed some money.

Exercise

Report the following speeches using indirect speech.

1. We know everything.

2. She came yesterday.

3. I don’t want to go.

4. We are doing things nicely.

5. She has done her best.

6. We were cleaning the rooms.

7. My children like coke.

Increase Your Vocabulary

Study the following phrasal verbs

phrasal verb meaning example sentence

invite on a
ask sb out Brian asked Judy out to dinner and a movie.
date
back sb up support My wife backed me up over my decision to quit my job.
let sb in allow to enter Can you let the cat in before you go to school?
work out be successful Our plan worked out fine.
 Our cat turned up after we put posters up all over the
turn up appear suddenly
neighbourhood.
turn
something refuse I turned the job down because I don't want to move.
down
Exercise
Guess the meanings of the underlined words and phrases using context.

1. The Fire kept me dry and warm because I was soaked.

2. After looking into it for an hour, we came up with an idea that we should help them.
3. Can you hold off doing that for a moment. I think you need our advice.

4. When he made insolent remarks towards his teacher they sent him to the

principal for being disrespectful.

5. I love cooking, but I detest grocery shopping.

6. While I live an extravagant lifestyle, my brother leads a frugal existence.

Grammar part 2
CONDITIONAL SENTENCES
Conditional Sentence Type 1
It is possible and also very likely that the condition will be fulfilled.

Form: if + Simple Present, will-Future

Example: If I find her address, I’ll send her an invitation.

Conditional Sentence Type 2

It is possible but very unlikely, that the condition will be fulfilled.

Form: if + Simple Past, Conditional I (= would + Infinitive)

Example: If I found her address, I would send her an invitation.

Conditional Sentence Type 3

It is impossible that the condition will be fulfilled because it refers to the past.

Form: if + Past Perfect, Conditional II (= would + have + Past Participle)

Example: If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation.
Exercise

Complete the following sentences using conditional forms.

1. If they knew this, ____________________________

2. What will you say if she ___________________
3. She would have given him more money if_____________
4. If you don’t know her,__________________
5. If they had collected enough money,___________________________
6. __________________________, he would make good decision.

ENGLISH WORKSHEET FOR GRADE 8

1. I really have no idea how the mistake ________ in the first place.
A. came through B. came about C. came off D. came round

. Wongel to Kalkidan: My father is coming back from Jimma tonight.

Kalkidan to Mahlet: ( the next day)

A. Wongel told me that her father was coming back tonight.

B. Wongel told me that my father was coming back last night.
C. Wongel told me that her father is coming back last night.
D. Wongel told me that her father was coming back last night.
. Long ago, it __________ that diseases ___________ from sinful acts of people.

A. believed ……. caused C. was believed………. caused

B. was believed……… were caused D. was believing…….were caused

. The first time I _________________ she cheated on me, I was completely frustrated.
A. was finding out C. founded out

B. was found out D. found out

. We_______________ a lot about the English tenses ever since we joined grade three.

A. were learning B. are learning C. learned D. have been learning.

7. When my parents ____ for the visit tomorrow, they will see my baby for the first time.

A. will arrive B. arrive C. have arrived D. are going to arrive

. You can’t always succeed in life. Sometimes, failure is inevitable. ( inevitable) means

A. sudden B. impractical C. unavoidable D. improbable

. We _____forget the good things people do to us. It is good to be grateful.

A. may not B. cannot C. have to D. should not

8. Why ___________ to her like this? Please calm down.

A. were you talking C. are you talking

B. have you talked D. do you talk
. It __________ long ago that she ________ the money.

A. has been…… sends C. was…… sent

B. is……. was sent D. was…… didn’t
. It ________________ a long time since we met.

A. was B. is C. has been D. have been.

. If you don’t know what a word means, you can look it____________ in a dictionary.

A. up B. on c. through D. within
. She came into a large fortune.

A. inherited B. calculated C. gathered D. maintained

. A new hotel__________________ in the centre of the town.

A. is built B. is being built C. is going to build D. has built

. The woman, who has been missing for 10 days, is believed __________

A. to be abducted C. to be abducting

B. to have been abducted D. to have been abducting

.Hermela: It’s a great honor to be your guest.

Meron: _______________.

A. Yes, of course C. What’s that

B. I don’t worry D. The pleasure is mine
17. She __________________ soon, is she?
A. has not come C. is not coming
B. was not coming D. doesn’t come