A selection of English ESL must printables

Some exercises to revise these modal verbs. The students have to fill in the gaps with the appropriate modal and a verb from the list. I know they can do it correctly. :-))

Pupil must or mustn't do

This is a must and mustn't grammar song in a rap style and includes a match up activity, gap fill, discussion prompt and the song lyrics. The song talks about rules and conventions across the world including Europe, Asia and South America. It also includes a video link. 

Must and mustn't grammar song

I usually use this worksheet like a warmer. At first, the teacher shows children just photos (he/she covers the task itself) and Ss name pics. After it, children choose one that they like (everybody chooses different one), then T opens the task itself, Ss read out their option and think about it for 1 minute (they can take some notes in the notebooks). Then, Ss talk (you can set the time limit).Completely editable.

talk about yourself "Must/ Mustn't"

The students have to write sentences using can, may, must. (Present Perfect) After that, they have to complete the sentences with the correct modal verbs or their substitutes. +solution

modal verbs (can, may, must)

Use the expressions "be able to", "be allowed to", and "have to" to fill in the blanks.Students have to find out which tense to use by reading the sentences carefully.

Modal verbs (can/may/must)

Classify different rules according to the places you can find them

Rules Classification- MUST/MUSTN¨T

Group or pair work. This activity was designed to be used as speaking practice, but can also be adapted for writing.
Each card has a different situation where an obligation needs to be expressed using ‘must’ or ‘have to’.
Students take turns picking a card and creating sentences with "must" or "have to." For example: "You have a big exam tomorrow." → "I must study hard tonight." / "I have to study for the exam tomorrow."
Encourage them to explain why they used "must" or "have to" for each scenario.

To make it harder, students could also create sentences with “mustn’t” or “don’t have to”.

Modals: must and have to

Grade: Seventh grade (7th grade)
Unit 2: You mustn't be late!
Skill: Writing Expression - Grammar focus: Have to must- Affirmative and negative form
This worksheet includes six activities to practice

must vs have to (obligation)

Grammar of the modal verb must with key.

Modal verb to have to.

Question and negation. 

How to use the modal verb to have to in the past tense.

And in the future tense. 

Especially for German pupils who learn English grammar.

Description how to use the modal verbs in German.

Example sentences with key. The examples describes what you must do and what is forbidden to do. Farm life plays an important role in the grammar sentences due to the fact that it is interesting, easy and funny. We want to help the pupils right from the start to use the modal verbs correctly. Especially for English learners whose mother tongue is German it is important to read the grammar essential in German. German pupils can easily understand each sentence and therefore write an essay with this important grammar. Modal verbs often define what we have to do and what is forbidden and this is often used in English conversation, essay writing and  dialouges. 







MUST - HAVE TO - MODAL VERBS

This is a lovely modern Christmas carol to be completed with Christmas vocabulary. If you watch the video song after completing it, there can be a debate about what they see on it. Enjoy!

Must be Christmas (Christmas carol)

A gap-fill worksheet you can use with the song video Must Be Santa by Mitch Miller (or by Bob Dylan for advanced learners as it's very fast-paced). Based on German drinking songs with challenging (and so fun!) repetition of the lines with keywords.



Missing keywords: beard, night, suit, cap, nose, reindeer, Santa



My pre-listening activities for lower levels consist of me writing the keywords on the board (not in the order as they appear in the song though) and having the students find as many adjectives as they can for each of them.



While-listening tasks: On first listening, students put the keywords in the correct order. They don't have the worksheet yet! On second and third listening, they fill in the gaps on the worksheet.



Post-listening tasks: Students sing along while reading the lyrics. They also like the challenge to sing without the lyrics and not mix the lines - here you can draw or show pictures of the keywords to guide them. 

Higher levels test themselves in keeping the pace with Dylan's version. The names of some US presidents are hidden in this version and the students try to spot them. They can also create riddles for other Christmas-themed words using the model in the song.



I believe you and your students are in for a treat with this song at that wonderful time of the year and I hope you'll like this activity as much as I and my students do.

Must Be Santa - song worksheet

Here is a sheet of paper for a quick understanding of the probability. It is explain with a line time and the structure is clear and simple. You can easily use this paper with the th grade. 

May Might Can't Must Probability

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

2,754 Must English ESL worksheets pdf & doc