Contrast with Past Simple The past perfect can be tricky to explain, and even advanced students often default to the past simple. A clear way to highlight the difference is to compare: Write both sentences on the board and ask students to explain the difference in meaning. This helps them see how the past perfect […]
The present perfect continuous is often taught alongside the present perfect simple. These are some of the present perfect continuous activities I’ve used in class to highlight its use for actions that started in the past and are still continuing — or have only recently stopped. I often begin by contrasting the sentences I’ve read […]
English learners can find the different English future forms quite intimidating and often just stick to the simple future will form to stay on the safe side. Here are some activities for teaching and comparing the different forms in applicable circumstances. Present Continuous – For Future Arrangements The present continuous is often used to talk […]
These past continuous activities are designed to help students practise describing actions in progress at a specific time in the past, or setting the scene for another event. The past continuous is especially useful when talking about interrupted actions, background information, and time-specific routines. What were you doing at … ? Start with a simple […]
These present continuous activities focus on the tense’s use for describing what is happening now or situations that are temporary. Activities which focus on its use for describing future arrangements can be found on the future forms page. What are you Wearing? The subject of clothes is an ideal way to introduce and practise using […]
Looking for engaging ways to teach the present simple tense? You’neve come to the right place. Below you’ll find a selection of fun, reliable present simple activities that are perfect for beginners and low-intermediate learners. These games and exercises get students speaking, asking questions, and using English in meaningful ways—without relying on drills or heavy […]
Tried and tested passive voice activities for the EFL classroom. Conspiracy Theory Match This conspiracy theory activity may not be appropriate in every context, use your judgement, but most students will probably know about and have strong opinions about at least some of these conspiracy theories, so as well as being a useful way of […]
Here are some tried-and-tested comparative activities for practising both comparatives and superlatives in a fun, meaningful way. Most of these require minimal prep and work well in pairs or small groups Comparative Pairs Put students into pairs and have them find out enough about each other to write five comparisons using the comparative form. Sheila […]
These conditional activities offer clear, simple ways to introduce and practise the first, second, third, and mixed conditional forms in the TEFL classroom. Many of them work well as speaking prompts, grammar reinforcement, or fun warmers with a bit of imagination. First Conditional Activities Superstitions This matching exercise is a great way to introduce the […]
Looking for engaging past simple activities to help students practise the past tense? These tried-and-tested classroom games are easy to set up, fun to play, and designed to help learners internalise both regular and irregular verb forms. Was & Were – Kim’s Game I often use the memory game Kim’s game as an introduction to […]
