A selection of English ESL abilities printables

Tips to express ability with examples. There are many ways to express ability and it is useful to know most of them. Students need to learn the exact meaning of each term.

Expressing Ability in Different Ways

Two page worksheet to practice using 'can' to talk about abilities. Practice positive, negative, and question forms.

There are additional speaking activities that complement this worksheet on my TeachersPayTeachers store.

Happy Teaching!



Can for Abilities - 2 page Worksheet

This activity is a change-of-routine kind of thing. It's about watching an hour of the film BRAVE and having students answer questions about it. The worksheet is based on ailities and physical descriptions.

Abilities + Physical Description - Film Activity - BRAVE

it's a test on vocabulary related to animal, abilities and physical description using the verb have got/has got. it includes a reading comprehension activity. then students should write a composition where they have to include specific information about themselves.

Classroom Test - Animals, Abilities, Physical Descriptions

This lesson is amied at Brazilian Learners of English. Its main focus is on Brazilian students from public schools.

Look at the table below. In it, you will find different personalities and public figures of African descendent socially recognized in their areas of expertise. Each of these people performs their skills in an exemplary manner in the society in which they live.

• Then, read a short biographical (life) summary of each of these people on a link available on the internet.

• Finally, place the sentence below the figure corresponding to the ability of each of these people represented in the images below. The first image is done. Follow the model.

Modal verb can to express abilities

Your students have to answer "Can you?" questions. I tried to write questions that are a little bit out of the ordinary, e.g. Can you teach a monkey to tell the time?, Can you rap?, etc. First, they answer with a short “Yes, I can” or “Yes, I can.” Then they tell their partner a bit more, e.g. “I can dance, but in my own style.” See sample answers for each question on Page 2. With elementary speakers, just omit the long answers and stay focused on the short answers. Bless up, Kisdobos

Can you? (Ability: Questions & Answers Set 2.))

AIMS:
The major aim of this exercise is to talk about skills and abilities.
•	to practice target language of modal verb CAN
•	to practise informal conversation
•	to learn about classmates' skills and abilities
•	to share important facts about each other

Can you ....(skills and abilities) speaking exercise

A mind map designed for practicing the modal verb CAN / CAN'T in speaking or writing.

Level: elementary - low pre-intermediate

* It's possible to use it for the intermediate level if you provide students with additional instructions to use more complicated patterns (e.g. using COULD / USED TO BE ABLE TO )



The ways to use it:

► talking in pairs;

► a teacher-student talking;

► for practicing questions;

► homework assignment (writing a composition) 



.

Abilities mind map (CAN, BE ABLE TO)

Exercises on Can, Can't, Must and Mustn't

Modals of ability, obligation and prohibition

A 3-page worksheet with exercises on can used to show ability, including a black & white version and the teacher's handout with answers. It's fully editable. Hope it helps.

Can (ability) - B&W version + keys

lesson plan sobre  el verbo can y como enseñarlo 

como  enseñar el can for ability 

This activity practices asking and answering basic questions. Each student gets a worksheet. As a class, read the boxes and go over any unfamiliar vocabulary. Students get 5 minutes to fill in the empty boxes with their own ideas. Students then mingle in the classroom and ask their peers questions based on the prompts in the boxes. Students write one friend’s name in each box and try to fill the whole Bingo board. For example, if a student is trying to fill a box that says “someone who can whistle,” they should ask a friend, “Can you whistle?” When a peer gives an affirmative answer, they write their name in the box. Every box should have a different friend’s name.

Human Bingo 1: abilities, likes, dislikes, about me

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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how to accuse somebody of something in English

how to apologize, say sorry, forgive and express regret in English

how to ask for information and make inquiries in English

how to ask for something, make requests in English

how to blame somebody for something in English

how to defend yourself from criticism in English

how to deny or admit something in English

how to describe things or people in English

how to emphasize important things in English

how to encourage or discourage people in English

how to evaluate people or progress in English

how to express agreement /disagreement in English

how to express approval and disapproval  in English

how to express cause and effect in English

how to express interest in something in English

how to express likelihood, probability in English

how to express likes and dislikes in English

how to express sequence and chronology in English

how to express shock and disbelief in English

how to express sympathy and condolences in English

how to give permission, authorization in English

how to inform somebody about some news in English

how to interpret what was said in English

how to keep a conversation going in English

how to make guesses about something in English

how to make, accept and refuse offers in English

how to order or make a booking in English

how to persuade, convince people in English

how to praise people and express appreciation in English

how to reassure somebody of something in English

how to refuse and object to something in English

how to remind people of something in English

how to rephrase, paraphrase what was said in English

how to say thank you, express gratitude in English

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

226 Abilities English ESL worksheets pdf & doc