A selection of English ESL esl perfect tenses activity printables

Created by PrimaryLeap
This engaging Perfect Tenses: Present, Past, and Future worksheet is designed for upper-intermediate ESL students to practise using perfect tenses accurately in context. Through fill-in-the-blank exercises, students develop an understanding of how present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect tenses function and differ. The activity also includes a sentence-writing exercise with the verb "study," allowing students to independently apply their knowledge. This worksheet is ideal for helping students improve their grammar and sentence construction skills.

Perfect Tenses: Present, Past, and Future

This is a list of questions using the present perfect tense. The questions make students discuss relevant things about their life experience and encourage them to make use of the present perfect.

Present perfect ESL Conversation Questions

ESL/ SA  learners tend to only use the basic times. This table helps them to form perfect and perfect progressive tense correctly and get used to them.They normally keep it in front of them when we have speaking or writing activities.

Active tenses table

A speaking activity to practise the present perfect tense between pairs or small groups. 



"Have you ever...?" questions on the topic of food, holidays and various situations.



Cut up and divide questions amongst students allocating the questions according to the size of your group. Students ask each other questions and report answers afterwards. They can take notes in the report form provided. Students can also make up their own questions. The last activity asks students to write about what they found out about their partner. Suits a beginner ESL/EFL class or it can be a fun warm-up activity.

Have you ever questions to cut up for a speaking activity

Past simple drilling activity. Perfect for young learners of ESL. Students are to open the brackets using the correct form of the past simple tense. Different types of sentences appear in the task (affirmative, negative and interrogative)

Grammar Review - Past Simple of Regular and Irregular Verbs

Fun ESL icebreaker speaking activity for the first day of class or to review perfect tenses. Could take up an entire 45 minute class if you spend some time going through the vocabulary.



When doing this ESL activity in class, I first went over the vocabulary. Then, students go around the class and try to find people who have done the activities on the work sheet. If someone has done something, they write their name. Focus on speaking. Make sure the students are actually asking the question and answering in English. At the end of the activity I asked students to raise their hand if they got 5 people, keep your hand raised if you got 10 people, 15 people, and so on. The person or people with the most names, I gave candy.




Find Someone Who Has ...

This 'Have you ever _?' board game is a fun speaking activity for teens and adult ESL (EFL) learners to get them using the Present Perfect tense to talk about experiences, and to practice switching to the simple past when asking for or giving more information. This is a well-tested resource that I use over and over again.

This version has British English.

Suggested Level: Elementary - Pre-intermediate (CEFR A2)


Have You Ever _ ? Present Perfect Boardgame (UK English)

This 'Have you ever _ ?' board game is a fun speaking activity for teens and adult ESL (EFL) learners to get them using the Present Perfect tense to talk about experiences, and to practice switching to the simple past when asking for or giving more information. This is a well-tested resource that I use over and over again.

This version has US English.

Suggested Level: Elementary - Pre-intermediate (CEFR A2)

You may also be interested in our ESL Board Game Bundle: 

teacherspayteachers.com/Product/ESL-Communicative-Board-Game-BUNDLE-8146356




Have You Ever_? Present Perfect Boardgame (US English)

Hi teachers,



I recently published a free lesson plan on Fluentize based on a news report video about the history of the conflict Russia and Ukraine.



I would say this lesson plan is probably most suitable for advanced (B1) students.



In order to view the video, please visit the lesson page on Fluentize via the link below.



https://app.fluentize.com/lesson/ukraine-russia-conflict-explained



This post contains the first half of the lesson materials. You can download the full lesson lesson directly from Fluentize when you're registered and logged in.



As you'll see in the lesson plan, students discuss topics and questions related to war in general and what they know about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Students also learn a few really important verbs and phrasal verbs from the video, including take over, ring out, rush, resolve, and dominate.



In the second Post-Viewing Activity on Fluentize, there is a short grammar activity on the difference between present perfect and past perfect.



"30 years ago, Ukraine became its own country. Before then, it had been dominated by Russia.”



You can follow everything up with additional discussion based on the following topics...



- Why topics such as war and politics can be difficult to talk about with other people sometimes 



- The extent to which other countries are involved in the war between Ukraine and Russia



- What could the world or other countries could do to help the country of Ukraine and its people



- What students have you seen, read, or heard about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine



- Information about Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky



***IMPORTANT NOTE***



I would just like to note here that due to the sensitivity of the situation, I would use your best judgment on whether to use this topic and proceed with discussions about it in class. You know your students best, and you could probably even ask students whether they wish to discuss it or not. A teacher may have students who wish to discuss it, and other students maybe not. It could very well be too sensitive or distressing for some students. Of course, I also understand the importance for students to be able to have discussions and express their ideas and opinions about such an important global topic. All in all, a lot of it may depend on the background of the students and how closely they are tied to the situation. If teachers decide to proceed with this topic, I would advise them to steer things as objectively as possible and focus on the history and background of the conflict itself.





Thanks,



Jake from Fluentize

The History of the Conflict Between Russia & Ukraine (B1 Intermediate) - ESL Lesson Plan

This material is focused for schools with biblical integration. It might be used to remember present perfect and to practice pronunciation with ESL students. It's a really useful song, actually could be helpful to practice writting skills too. 

Dear John - Christian Song 

This is a song thinked to help ESL students with their pronunciation sharing a good message through this song. They can practice vocabulary and grammar to. It's really fun and easy to solve. I hope might be helpful for you. 

Old Church Choir - Christian Song 

This engaging worksheet helps intermediate ESL students practise descriptive writing while expanding their house-related vocabulary. Students are guided to write a short paragraph about their home, describing its rooms, furniture, and features. With example sentences and guiding questions, this activity builds confidence in using descriptive language and present-tense grammar. Perfect for classroom practice, creative assignments, or pair work, the task encourages students to visualise and communicate details effectively. This worksheet was created by primaryleap.co.uk

Describing My Home

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

19 Esl perfect tenses activity English ESL worksheets pdf & doc