1. What is Reported Speech?

We use reported speech to tell what someone said, but not using their exact words.

➡️ Direct speech: Amina said, "I like English."

➡️ Reported speech: Amina said that she liked English.

2. Rules: Change Pronouns and Verb Tense

When reporting speech, we usually:

• Change the pronouns depending on who is speaking and who is being spoken about.
• Shift the tense of the verb one step into the past (this is called backshift).

✅ Start with phrases like: He said that... / She told me that... / They said that...

3. Pronoun Changes (Examples)

4. Verb Tense Changes - Backshift (Examples)

5. Examples

6. Remember:

• We do not use quotation marks in reported speech.
• The word "that" is often used (e.g., "He said that...") – but can be left out in spoken English.
• If the statement is still true or very recent, we don’t always change the tense (e.g. "The sun is hot" → He said the sun is hot).

Homework or Football?

It was Friday afternoon, and the sun was shining brightly. After school, three friends – Amani, Juma, and Neema – met at the school gate.

"I want to play football!" said Juma, already holding the ball. "I want to play, too," said Amani, "but we have homework in English." "Homework can wait," said Juma. "Football is more fun!"

Neema shook her head. "I think we should do our homework first."

Juma looked upset. "You never want to play," he said.

"This is not true," said Neema kindly. "But if we play now, we'll be too tired later." "I respect that," said Amani. "Let's do our homework together – then we play!"

Juma sighed, then smiled. "Okay... but only if we really play after!"

The three friends sat under a tree and helped each other with the homework. They asked questions, explained answers, and even laughed a lot.

When they finished, Juma jumped up. "Now it's football time!"

They played until sunset – and everyone felt good, because they had done the right thing first.

After they had finished playing, the three children went home. Neema was so enthusiastic about her experience that she told her family about it at dinner...

1. Why is punctuation important?

Punctuation helps us understand a sentence.
It shows when to stop, when to pause, when to ask, and when someone speaks.

2. The Most Important Punctuation Marks

Full stop (.)

Use it at the end of a sentence.
Example: I like English.

Comma (,)

Use it to make a pause in a sentence or to separate things in a list.
Examples:

• We read, write, and draw.
• After lunch, we played.

Exclamation mark (!)

Use it to show strong feelings like excitement, surprise, or commands.
Examples:

• What a great day!
• Stop that!
• I love football!

Question mark (?)

Use it at the end of a question.
Examples:

• What is your name?
• Do you like mangoes?

5. Quotation marks (" ")

Use them to show when someone is speaking (direct speech).
Example:

• Rehema said, "I am happy."

The comma goes before the quotation, and the first word inside the quotation marks starts with a capital letter.