A selection of English ESL partner work printables

Tandem sheet for the practice of 'was' and 'were' in positive and negative sentences

Partner work: was / were

Students have to make using the correct tenses (Simple Present and Will-Future) with a partner. 

Partner A has got the information partner B needs and vice versa.

Gapfill/Grammar drill exercise.

Appropriate for Year 7 (Revision in Year 8) of German High School.

Conditional I Tenses partner work

I made another version of the well-known Guess Who boardgame for ESL learners with characters I created using the avatar creator tool at http://avachara.com . Sample questions and gameplaying expressions can be found on the second page of the worksheet. 



There is a related Guess who boardgame that you may also want to play for the sake of variety:

https://en.islcollective.com/resources/printables/worksheets_doc_docx/guess_who_with_25_characters/present-continuous-progressive/109463



The game is meant to give you an opportunity for practising speaking with your class in a fun way.



Here's how to play the Guess Who game in ESL class: Hand out one copy of the boardgame to each student. Put students in pairs and let each student choose a 'mystery person' secretly. Each student needs to guess each other's mystery person faster than their partner. It is only allowed to ask 'YES' or ‘NO’ questions (and of course, answer 'YES' or 'NO'). If something is unclear from the picture, your students can respond by saying "I can't tell" or "It's not possible to tell" (in this case, you can decide whether the student can ask another question, or if it's their partner's turn). Question by question, students narrow down the list of possible mystery persons until they feel confident enough to make a guess. Usually when one has been ruled out of the last two persons remaining.



I recommend that you hand out one transparent plastic foil along with each Guess Who boardgame. Students can place the foil over the boardgame and using an erasable magic marker cross out on it the characters that they have ruled out. 



How do students figure out who cannot be their opponent's mystery person? For example, "Is your person blond?" If the answer is 'Yes', then they cross out all the characters that are not blond. If the answer is 'No', they cross out all the characters that are blond.



Encourage students to answer with auxiliary verbs, not just a simple Yes or No, e.g. "Yes, he or she is/does", "No, he or she isn't/doesn't" (using the form "he or she" until the gender of the mystery character has been revealed in order to keep this info hidden). Once the gender is revealed, they can go on using the specific gender in responses, e.g. "Yes, he is", "Yes, he does", "No, he isn't", No, he doesn't". You could also opt for forbidding questions about the mystery person's gender. This way you'll see longer games and more questions.



You can use this worksheet in your ESL/EFL classes to practise body parts, clothes, (garments and accessoriese), and asking closed (Yes/No) questions in an entertaining way. Playing this game is a proven way of getting your students engaged in speaking English.



I recommend using this ESL printable worksheet up till pre-intermediate level, as the game is focused on asking questions and giving short answers in the Present Simple tense using the auxiliary verb 'have', and the Present Continuous tense using the verb "wear".





Guess Who boardgame with 20 characters

Activity to practice using PLAY, DO , GO with sports.

Students can do it with a partner.





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Go, play or do a sport?

This is a role play game to practise complaints in a hotel. There are four different situations to complain about. One partner is the hotel manager, the other the guest. On page 2 you´ll find some useful sentences for these situations. - Typo removed, thank you for PM.

Complaining at a hotel- Role play

ESL/EFL Picture dictionary of body parts, plus a related information gap exercise. There are two different worksheets for pairs of students. Each worksheet has some body part names missing and others provided. Students explain what missing information they need from their partner.

Body Parts (Picture Dictionary+ Information Gap Exercise)

A easy sheet to practice comparatives, superlatives and adjectives. The students have to guess the animal and then draw a picture. Then, they can write their own description and get their partner to guess.

WHAT ANIMAL AM I?

Draw and describe your bedroom to your partner

There is/are, prepositions of place, bedroom furniture

Drawing dictation - in my bedroom

Your students have to answer "Can you?" questions. I tried to write questions that are a little bit out of the ordinary, e.g. Can you teach a monkey to tell the time?, Can you rap?, etc. First, they answer with a short “Yes, I can” or “Yes, I can.” Then they tell their partner a bit more, e.g. “I can dance, but in my own style.” See sample answers for each question on Page 2. With elementary speakers, just omit the long answers and stay focused on the short answers. Bless up, Kisdobos

Can you? (Ability: Questions & Answers Set 2.))

Your students have to answer "Can you?" questions. I tried to write questions that are a little bit out of the ordinary, e.g. Can you teach a monkey to tell the time?, Can you rap?, etc. First, they answer with a short “Yes, I can” or “No, I can’t.” Then they tell their partner a bit more, eg. “No, I can’t. But I don’t think it’s possible. Monkeys can be intelligent but not that intelligent.” See sample answers for each question on Page 2. With elementary speakers, just omit the long answers and stay focused on the short answers. Bless up, Kisdobos

Can you? (Ability: Questions & Answers)

A ws for beginners. Frst they decide what they can do and then they circle the activities. Next they tell their partner what they can do! Fully editable -if you want other actions included.

What Can You Do? I Can....

1 You are going to plan a trip this time. 

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2 On the table are the TOP 10 Must See Destinations in China. Write “destination” on the board. You will work with your partner in a pair. You will pick a destination and read the description about the destination. You can view them from page 7 to page 13. 

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3 Now you will follow the example. Each pair will plan a trip considering a few points below. Students will need to refer to the example on page 5. (allow about three to four minutes)

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4 

        You will now have to tell people in other pairs about your holiday plan.

•	You will convince them to go with you to the destination you chose. 

•	You will invite them to go with you. 



Planning a Trip Role Play for Elementary to Intermediate 

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

811 Partner work English ESL worksheets pdf & doc