A selection of English ESL future in the past ppt slides

ESL Powerpoint showing the different uses of the future in the past with / without intent: was going to / would become / went on to...

and an example of reported speech.



Finishes off with 2 different class exercises (can be used in private online lessons).



A link to an extra activity for extra time. 


Future in the Past grammar guide

In this ESL grammar presentation, students will be able to understand and practice the use of Was, were going to (future in the past) to talk about plans and intentions they had in the past but didn’t happen for some reason. It includes examples and situations where they can use the structure and a dialogue to practice this structure. Some activities were taken from the sources mentioned in the reference. This is intended to be used with adults and young adult learners. Feel free to make any adjustments and corrections if necessary and adapt it to your class.

WAS, WERE GOING TO (Future in the past)

Let's learn together the verbs, but not only that, we can learn how to use them in the past and in the future, how cool right? Verbs sometimes can be a little hard to understand even when students re beginners. This is why this material can definitely help students to learn more about how to speak in the future and in the past, wonderful right?

Verbs in the Past and Future

When to use this lesson?

As you know, teaching conditionals can be a bit tricky. What that means is that it is even more difficult to learn but especially important! So, this lesson is not recommended for beginner ELs and rather intermediate students. Students should be familiar with the basic past, present and future tenses. You should note this lesson includes a lot of content and concepts, so it is not necessary to complete it in one go. Rather, gauge how much you can get through based on a students proficiency and retention. Keep scrolling to read more on how to teach conditionals and to find a free lesson plan download.

If you want additional lesson plans and support, including teachers’ notes, be sure to register for a free Off2Class account.

How To Teach Conditionals - True In The Present And Future - Off2Class Lesson Plan

Lots and lots of speaking - in pairs or one-to-one, in a classroom or online - about the BIG events in life - weddings, jobs, relationships, what happened to you in the past and what you want for the future. A great lesson for all-round speaking using all the basic tenses. CLASS HANDOUT and TEACHER'S NOTES INCLUDED ON FINAL SLIDES

Speaking B1 B2 Intermediate - life events: past, present and future

Students are challenged to change sentences for one of three different tenses - the present tense, simple past (regular verbs) and future tense. This is a good way to get students involved in the class by answering questions presented in the ppt.

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow - practice with present tense, simple past (regular verbs) and future tense

A simple PP consisting of eight slides with two sentences in each slide of past tense and future tense verbs.



All verbs are highlighted and underlined in red. Various cartoon gifs within the PP serve to retain the attention of your students.

Verbs (Past and Future Tense)

Students will be invited to use the correct form of the simple past tense for regular verbs and the future tense as well. The fill in the blank format allows you to call on numerous students to answer the questions.

The simple past for regular verbs and simple future

When should you teach the Future Continuous to ESL students?

It’s essential to teach this topic at the right time. Students can feel overwhelmed or demotivated if you start teaching the Future Continuous too early. This lesson is designed for pre-intermediate students (B1 Level on the CEFR framework). Before you begin this lesson, check the following:

- Can your students use the present continuous for actions in progress at the time of speaking?
- Can your students use the simple future with will?
- Have your students had exposure to the past continuous, for actions in progress at a point in the past?

If your students have completed all three points above, they are ready to learn the Future Continuous.

If you want additional lesson plans and support, including teachers’ notes, be sure to register for a free Off2Class account.

Teach The Future Continuous – Free ESL Lesson Plan

Students will be able to use the present, past or future tense of various verbs. What else can I say? I put this ppt together based on a chapter in a textbook in China and I just want to share it. Feel free to change it around or add to it.

A mixed bag of present, past and future tense verbs

postcards from the turn of the last century predicting what the world might be like in 2000. The ppt may be used either to elicit students§ ideas using WILL+verb and discuss them, at the end past tenses could be practiced while reflecting whether the predictions have come true and the presentation can also be used to practice reported speech. 

future predictions 1

future predictions 2

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

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Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

Get here and you are ready to study in English at university

15 Future in the past English ESL powerpoints