A selection of English ESL obligation printables

Modal Verbs of Obligation

Five different exercises + key

Modal Verbs: OBLIGATION

Modal verbs - obligation

A text on an employee using modals of obligation with following focus on the form, - a practice activity and discussion on obligation at work.

Modals of Obligation

A fill in the gaps activity to practice the use and the difference between have to and must

Modals of obligation

Grade: Seventh grade (7th grade)
Unit 1: You have to say something!
Skill: Writing Expression - Grammar focus: Have to- Affirmative, negative and interrogrative form
This worksheet includes six activities to practice

Have to - obligation

It's an English exercise activity to complete the answer of short dialogues consist of two speakers using "No, you mustn’t or Yes, you can" related to the expressions of Obligation.

Talking about obligation

Pictures of roadsigns, plus descriptions, with modals missing. Student must match roadsign to description, filling in the appropriate modal of obligation in its correct form.

Modals of obligation: Roadsigns

Students will learn how to express obligation and prohibiiton in the past.  First, they will read the rules and examples.  Then they will use had to and wasn't/weren't allowed to to complete the sentences.

Past Obligation and Prohibition

Another short worksheet in the form of a dice game that should prove useful in extending the range of students when they want to express obligation. Some expressions are formal and others are not quite so formal. 

Ways to Express Obligation

Must / mustn't / don't have to 



This worksheet aims at letting the students discover the rules regarding modals of obligation on the basis of examples (inductive grammar). 

Modals of obligation (introduction)

Obligation - must, have to, mustn't
Lack of obligation - don't have to

This is the 6th worksheet about the Taylor Family. See previous worksheets for other grammar points.

Background
This is a worksheet from a book that I created to help visual learners review grammar, learn vocabulary and practice speaking. The book is about a typical family who live in England. John and Sue are the parents of Emily and Peter. They live with their dog Barney. 

Introduction
This worksheet can help learners practice a number of different things, for example,
             - vocabulary
             - modal verbs for obligation (must, mustn't, have to, don't have to)

Task 1: Remind SS of the Taylor Family (if you are using this worksheet as part of a 
             series). What do they remember about the family? For example,
             'Peter plays computer games.'
             'John drives to work every morning.'
             Tell the SS that Emily and Peter go to a typical school in England. 

Task 2: Look at the worksheet and using vocabulary describe each picture. 
             Ask SS: 'What can you see in each picture?'
             Go through the vocabulary and difficult verbs (uniform, pupil, offer, give presents ...)

Task 3: This worksheet would probably work best if you have already taught the language of 
             obligation and lack of obligation. However, it can be done as an introduction. 
             As an introduction to obligation you can ask SS to look at each picture and say what     
             are good things to do and bad things to do, from the point of a pupil at school.
             Then you could teach obligation.

             If SS are familiar with obligation then it's a simple review exercise. To make it more 
             challenging you could go over the difference between 'must' and 'have to', for        
             example,
             T: At Emily and Peter's school you must OR have to wear a school uniform.
             S: You 'have to' wear a school uniform because the rule is from somebody else, i.e, the 
                 school.

Task 4: For group work, SS could write the rules for students and teachers in their 
             dream school.

The Taylor Family - Obligation

Look at the pictures and write sentences below each one, using MUST and MUSTN'T 
 Match sentence halves and then write the full sentences below, using MUST and MUSTN'T

Modal verbs for obligation

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

133 Obligation English ESL worksheets pdf & doc