The difference between present simple and continuous tenses I have already created two posts on the difference between the present simple and continuous tenses. There are Present simple or present continuous tense – improved and Present simple and continuous tenses posts. Both of them are good but as I have come up with a new idea, I want to share it with you in this post. This post concentrates on the difference between the tenses. In this post there are just two activities: a worksheet and an interactive quiz. Present simple and continuous tense – worksheet Hand out the following worksheet (students have to work in pairs; one will need worksheet A and the other worksheet B) and ask the students not to show their picture to their partner. In exercise 2 they should complete the sentences with the correct names. When they finish, it is time to explain the difference between the tenses. In exercise 4, students should take the picture and speak about it for 60 seconds without stopping or hesitating. Present simple and continuous tense – worksheet
ESL Classroom Jeopardy Verb Tenses, Past Simple, Future, Perfect ESL Interactive Fun Games Here we have the games carefully laid out for you. Follow the links to browse the variety of games offered. This is only the directory for interactive games and exercises. Grammar Games & Interactive Exercises - Click Here! Games for Practising Grammar: Present simple/present progressive games, past tense games, present perfect games, comparative/Superlatives and more... Vocabulary Games & Interactive Exercises - Click Here! Games for practising English vocabulary: Lots of games by topics and game types Pronunciation Games & Interactive Exercises - Click Here! Games to practice English pronunciation, phonetics and phonics. Reading/Spelling Games & Interactive Exercises - Click Here! Games and exercises to practice reading, spelling and lexis
English Grammar Pill: How to use the present perfect tenses correctly In my last Grammar Pill post, I wrote about the English past tenses and hopefully gave you an idea of how to use the tenses correctly. The post is so far my most successful article having been viewed over 40,000 times and shared over 10,000 times on Facebook!! Thank you for sharing my post. I hadn’t appreciated how popular English tenses were with learners and teachers. In this post, as promised I want to cover the present perfect tenses and show you how to use them correctly. Let me remind you of the wonderful mind map my fellow teacher, Gordana Popovic created showing the past tenses. Mind Map by Gordana Popovic Structure The present perfect is formed with the present simple of the auxiliary verb “have” and the past participle. Positive Sentence: I/you/we/they have (‘ve) goneHe/she/it has (‘s) gone Negative Sentence: I/you/we/they have not (haven’t) goneHe/she/it has not (hasn’t) gone Questions and short answers: Have they gone? Uses “Have you seen that film yet?” PAST SIMPLE or PRESENT PERFECT?
Adapting games – Truth be told with second conditionals Truth be told is a game that encourages players to be creative. It’s similar to games like Dixit, Absolute Boulderdash and Pictionary which create a context for players to be interesting and entertaining. We can adapt these games by slightly changing the focus and introducing a language structure. Update: The handout has been updated to include first, second and third conditionals and can be downloaded here for Powerpoint or here as a PDF. This is a simple game that can be used with a wide variety of language. Instructions Each group is given a set of cards and a stack of small sheets of paper. “If I were friends with the president, …” The first time you play you should elicit that the next part will start with “I would…” The other players should think about what the first player’s answer will be. “If I were friends with the president, I would get a comfortable government job.” “If I were friends with the president, I would tell him to resign.” Further adaptation
Multi-word verbs: Methods and approaches In this second article I'll look at a range of approaches and methods that I have used to try to help my students with them. Categorising Focus on lexical verb Lexical sets Teaching through texts One way of using texts in the classroom Conclusion Categorising Traditional approaches to the teaching of multi-word verbs focus on the explicit study of the item. Many ELT coursebooks and grammars classify them into four distinct types, depending on whether they are intransitive or transitive, i.e. verbs that don't take an object and verbs that do, or if the verb and particle can be separated or not. I have used this method in the past, and have occasionally found students, usually analytical learners, who have benefited from such an approach. Focus on lexical verb Another approach is to group them according to the lexical verb; run into run over run off run away run through Example: "I ________ Simon in the cinema last night." take off do up speed up touch down etc.
Speaking games – personality adjectives This is a game for upper-intermediate and advanced students. It was designed as a speaking game and serves as a revision tool for two lexical sets: professions and personality adjectives. The main focus is a better understanding of the subtleties of personality adjectives through group discussion. This is a game developed using a format I outlined in a previous post – Apples to apples – adapting-games. Each player is dealt six cards from the professions deck. Here is an example round of the game: There are five players, four players who are competing and one judge. The four players select professions which fit this criteria and reveal their cards. The winner is given the personality card to show they won the round. The game is very simple to follow and generates interesting conversations and unusual arguments. The cards are available for download [Here]. Like this: Like Loading...
Questions in the past tense - Games to learn English | Games to learn English Question formation in general causes problems. Students get easily confused and they feel that they are not able to form the questions. But in fact, it is very simple. Before you start teaching, ask your students to try the following pre-test. What / you / do / yesterday? Display the correct sentences and ask the students to write down how many questions they formed correctly: What did you do yesterday? Ask the students to work in pairs and ask and answer the questions in their pairs. Questions in the past tense – Video You might want to play the following video where the grammar is explained before you explain it yourself. Questions in the past tense – mind map Display or print out the following mind map and explain the formation of questions to students. Now tell the students the tale about the DID train. Questions in the past tense – Practice Practice makes perfect, however, the practice has to be varied and reasonble. Questions in the past tense – End of lesson
LearnEnglishTeens Classroom activities to teach narrative tenses Are you looking for new grammar games for the classroom? Multiple winner of the TeachingEnglish blog award Mike Astbury shares some resources to download, print, and use in your class. What are narrative tenses? Narrative tenses are verb tenses that are used to talk about the past. You can often find them in stories, textbooks, spoken accounts and in descriptions of past events. The following are examples of narrative tenses: Past simple: 'We left for the airport on an exceptionally sunny day.' Past continuous: 'The sun was shining and it was really hot by midday.' Past perfect: 'It had been sunny on and off for the previous fortnight.' Past perfect continuous: 'We had been waiting at the airport for what seemed like an eternity.' Activities to practise narrative tenses The following games are designed to help students practise narrative tenses and don’t require teacher supervision. The games use 16 cards, which tell a short story when combined together. A. B. These are card templates. C. D.
Simple present tense | English Grammar The simple present tense is one of several forms of present tense in English. It is used to describe habits, unchanging situations, general truths, and fixed arrangements. The simple present tense is simple to form. Just use the base form of the verb: (I take, you take, we take, they take) The 3rd person singular takes an -s at the end. (he takes, she takes) The simple present tense is used: To express habits, general truths, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions and wishes:I smoke (habit); I work in London (unchanging situation); London is a large city (general truth) To give instructions or directions:You walk for two hundred meters, then you turn left. Be careful! Examples For habits He drinks tea at breakfast. For instructions or directions Open the packet and pour the contents into hot water. Forming the simple present tense: to think Notes on the simple present, third person singular Examples He goes to school every morning.
Gerunds and Infinitives: rules, exercises and quizzes What is the difference between gerunds and infinitives? When should you use each? Let's start from the beginning. Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses A gerund is a noun made from a verb. For example: In the sentence "I swim every day", the word "swim" is a verb. In the sentence "I like swimming", the word "swimming" is a noun. Therefore, "swimming" is a gerund. Second example: In the sentence "She reads several books a week", the word "read" is a verb. In the sentence "Reading is important", the word "reading" is a noun. Therefore, "reading" is a gerund. The word "gerund" actually comes from the Latin word gerere, which means "do". You could say this actually makes sense: the gerund describes an action, something you do. Gerunds are often used when actions are real or completed. Examples: (Note how the main underlined verb relates to real or completed actions.) She stopped smoking. What is an Infinitive? Example Sentences: "I want to swim." Part I
Low-preparation games to practise present simple questions in English Cristina Cabal, winner of the British Council's TeachingEnglish blog award, has collected her favourite games for practising the tense that isn't always as simple as its name. One of the first things people learn when they study English is the present simple form of verbs. However, learners often forget to add the -s ending to the third person singular: Eva walk to work every day or produce grammatically incorrect questions either by forgetting the auxiliary verb: Eva walks to work every day? or by neglecting to drop the -s ending after adding the auxiliary verb in the question: Does Eva walks to work every day? Learning grammar is not enough when learners must use the language in real life. These are some of my favourite activities to practise asking questions using the present simple. Game 1: Infinitive cards Materials: a deck of playing cards. In a deck of 52 playing cards there are 13 ranks (hearts, queens, numbers...) and four suits (hearts, spades, clubs and diamonds). How to play to work
Present simple | LearnEnglish - British Council Level: beginner The present tense is the base form of the verb: I work in London. But with the third person singular (she/he/it), we add an –s: She works in London. Present simple questions Look at these questions: Do you play the piano? We use do and does to make questions with the present simple. We use do and does with question words like where, what and when: Where do Angela and Rita live? But questions with who often don't use do or does: Who lives in London? Here are some useful questions. Present simple negatives Look at these sentences: I like tennis but I don't like football. We use do and does to make negatives with the present simple. Present simple and present time We use the present simple to talk about: something that is true in the present: I'm nineteen years old. something that happens regularly in the present: I play football every weekend. something that is always true: The human body contains 206 bones. I sometimes go to the cinema. Here are some useful sentences. Level: intermediate