A selection of English ESL difficult vocabulary printables

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

This game consists of 48 domino tiles. Players match tiles (word/picture) and get rid of their dominoes in order to win. This activity will enhance and consolidate animal vocabulary and reading skills. Includes ´How To Play´ instructions. (for lower levels you can leave out the more difficult cards) 

Animal Dominoes

Quiz with 20 'family' questions , suitable for most students (and for anyone who likes quizzes really). There is a mix of easy and more difficult questions. Should they prove too easy, just make it a bit harder by using your imagination - e.g. use the answer in a correct sentence. Also, use common sense and edit or change the questions that could be inappropriate for younger learners (or in your culture). That is the joy of having an editable Word document!

(PS: answer 7 is 'uncle', my apologies)

Quiz - Family

You can play this game in different ways. 1.	Easy version: Players only have to say the name of the animal. e.g. ItÂs a cow. 2.	More difficult version: Players say the name of the animal and one or more things they know about it. e.g. ItÂs a cow. It gives milk. It eats grass. 3.	Spelling version: Players have to spell the name of the animal correctly (and say something about it) 4.	Writing version: Players write the name of the animal and one or more sentences about it. 5.	Question version: Players ask and answer questions about the animal. You can of course invent five dozen more ways to play it. Have fun!

Board Game - The Animal Kingdom

Quiz with 20 trivia questions concerning the UK, suitable for most students (and for anyone who likes quizzes really). There is a mix of easy and more difficult questions. Should they prove too easy, just make it a bit harder by using your imagination - e.g. use the answer in a correct sentence.

United Kingdom Trivia Quiz

This worksheet has a text and some exercises. The reading is about a girl who lived abroad. Very useful to discuss cultures. I hope you like it.....  Discuss the term - living abroad - and how it can be difficult.

Living Abroad - Reading Comprehension and Grammar

Tape the pictures on the wall in random order and not in a straight line. Then have two teams of students. One student from each team has a ball to throw. These students will start from opposite directions. When you say go, they must throw the ball at the picture and say what it is. If they are younger students have a teacher nearby to help with difficult pictures.

Body Parts Flashcards

Vocabulary worksheet containing SPORTS vocabulary. It has a word bank which can be d to make the exercise more difficult. You can add a speaking activity such as telling the class about your favourite sports - or have students interview each other.

Vocabulary Matching Worksheet - Sports

This is the 3rd part of my Present Simple set. This time you´ll find 6 tasks to the negative form of the Present Simple Tense. The difficulty of the tasks are marked with cute starts from Grace Lee. I think the rephrasing task (6th) is the most difficult one. (There are other cliparts from her, too.) The notebook style is from Philip Roeland, as always. :) Thanks for their kindness with sharing. Key is included. Hope you find my ws useful.

Present Simple Tense * Part 3 * Negative sentences * 3 pages * 6 different tasks * with key * with vocabulary corner

Interview the Minions and practice the correct use of tenses- mostly past tense- but present simple and present perfect also included. Discuss what the class knows about this movie prior to completion. There are some difficult vocabulary words for beginners and should be discussed beforehand. 



Answer key included. 



Speaking cards for Minions found here: 



https://en.islcollective.com/resources/printables/worksheets_doc_docx/minion_card_game_speaking_exercise/adjectives-to-describe/81372

Interview the Minions with KEY

This text about the history of clothing is quite difficult and meant for advanced students. There are several discussion topics and a adjective exercise. 

If you want to revise clothes vocabulary, you can find worksheets here:

https://en.islcollective.com/mypage/resources?Tags=fashion&searchworksheet=GO&type=Printables&id=5163

Fashion - History of clothing

This sheet contains a serious of sentences to practise the changes from Direct to indirect Speech with reporting verbs. The vocabulary is no very difficult so it can be used in an elementary level.

Reporter:reporting verbs

The above downloadable printable is a great resource for elementary school students at Beginner (pre-A1) and Elementary (A1) level. It is aimed at practising Prepositions of place as well as vocabulary topic of Rooms in the house. As I need something slightly difficult for my kids, I borrowed the  picture from "ceymert" worksheet and add the writing part.

142 Difficult vocabulary English ESL worksheets pdf & doc