A selection of English ESL music lyrics 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

Here is an activity to use with a music lyrics website.  My students liked this activity because they could choose the songs they wanted to listen to.

Music Lyrics Activity

Listening activity for students to increase their skills. Let them listen at least twice and complete the worksheet. Can be adjusted to advanced learners by erasing the word box.

Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran

I made this worksheet because I needed a more "challenging" one for my students to keep them focused, as they almost know this song by heart (I noticed that if the worksheet is easy, they lose interest, even if they like the song). They were sure that it would be an easy task, but I managed to surprise them :) There are 8 different exercises: choose the right word, fill the gaps, fill the gaps with antonyms, choose the correct spelling, find and correct the mistakes, complete the missing letters, match the lines and underline the words you hear. They enjoyed it and we had a lot of fun! I hope you like it too!

Song: Sugar - Maroon 5

Song: "Yesterday", the Beatles.

Complete the lyrics with past form of the verb in the chart.

"Yesterday"

(with Answer Key) This worksheet is based on the song The Show Must Go On by British rock band Queen. Before listening, the students are given a number of words from the lyrics and are asked to rewrite them in rhyming pairs. Then they try to complete the lyrics using these rhyming pairs. They listen to the song and check their answers. Finally, they do a vocabulary matching exercise so that they can understand the lyrics better. I have also included a short factual text (adapted from Wikipedia), which will help Ss get a wider understanding of the song. 

(song) The Show Must Go On - Queen 

Listening exercise for students to learn new vocabulary and increase their listening skills. Helps with comprehension and can be used to show different adjectives in song. Allow students to listen at least twice.



Blank Space by Taylor Swift

Another song from Bieber´s last album. Again, I needed a challenging worksheet for my students, so you´ll find various exercises: fill the gaps, choose the right word, the right spelling, find extra words, order lines, correct mistakes, fill gaps with past simple and antonyms, complete missing letters. I added a post-listening activity for checking vocabulary, the students have to choose the correct meaning for several expressions. I hope you like it!



P.S. If you like my worksheets and your students like Bieber´s last album, I also uploaded "What do you mean?" today and "I´ll show you" some time ago. Thanks! 

Song: Love yourself -Justin Bieber

An ESL worksheet based on the evergreen song by Abba: Money, Money, Money. ESL song lyrics gapfill activity with pictures to help learners with figuring out the missing words.

Abba Lyrics - Money, Money, Money (Song Gapfill)

Gap fill exercise based on pop band One Direction - What Makes you beautiful. This worksheet is a gap fill exercise followed by matching the gap words to definitions. After there are facts about One Direction and comprehension questions based on the facts. 

One Direction - What makes you beautiful gap fill

I´ve just realized I forgot to upload this worksheet I made last spring :) It´s still a popular song, and there are plenty of exercises: antonyms, match verses, fill gaps, choose the right word, find mistakes, misplaced words, and as post-listening activities, a little bit of vocabulary and ...shapes ;D I hope you like it! 

Song: Shape of you - Ed Sheeran

An hour long lesson on Household Waste Management, using the lyrics and music of the song 'Down By The River'. The activities in this handout stretch listening, speaking, comprehension and writing skills. Grammar aspects such as phrasals and comparative adjectives are also dealt with, briefly.

Song worksheet and Household Waste Management Lesson Plan: Down By The River (Revised)

(two versions - three pages) I used this worksheet as a follow up activity after teaching "used to" and "would" for past habits. The students listen to the song once and number the pictures in the correct order. Then they listen again and complete the lyrics with the past simple of the irregular verbs in the song. In the second version they have to sort a number of words into rhyming pairs and then complete the lyrics with these words. I have also included a few comprehension questions.

327 Music lyrics English ESL worksheets pdf & doc