A selection of English ESL truth and lie printables

it is an activity to do in class, you put your students into grups and give them these cards,they read them and decide if they are gonna tell a lie or the truth. 

gerunds and infinitives

Truth and lies - speaking activity. Create a groups and divide given situation between them. Each situation should duplicate. Every group must find a solution for given situation and compare their ideas with a group having the same situation to assess. 

truth and lies speaking game

The classic warmer, language aimed at lower levels

Two Truths and a lie

This is a game based on truth or lie game, including phrasal verbs and expressions. The students are supposed to pick a card which would say "truth" or "lie" and the rest should guess if it's true or false so that they can get as many points as they can. Since this is intended to be for advanced students they are supposed to describe as much as they can using a wide range of vocabulary.

Truth or lie C1

Ask your students to write two truths and one lie in Present Simple and Present Continuous about themselves. The facts can be taken from the box. Other students should guess.

Present Simple and Present Continious. 2 truths 1 lie

This worksheet has a list of second conditional questions with three blanks for students to fill in with three answers. The activity is a twist on the game "Two Truths & a Lie" called "Two Lies and a Truth." Students give to false answers and one true answer to the prompt. To use it as a speaking activity, they can discuss it with partners, having them guess which is the false answer. Enjoy! 

Two Lies and a Truth: Second Conditional

In this activity you have to cut each image and three possible options and give a piece of paper to each student, then in couples they have to guess which of the sentences is the lie. 

Find the lie Symptoms and diseases

This ESL worksheet presents a dystopian scenario where people have lived for decades inside Safe Zones after being told the outside world was destroyed by a nuclear disaster. Society inside the zones is equal and peaceful, but freedom is gone—people cannot travel, choose their careers, or leave. One day, a student discovers the world outside is still beautiful and safe, and that the disaster may have been a lie to control the population and protect the Earth. Students read a simplified 400-word story, answer thought-provoking discussion questions, make a moral decision, and write a secret letter about what they discovered. This lesson is ideal for B1–B2 learners and encourages reflection on freedom, government control, and truth. Perfect for conversation classes or themed ethics lessons.

The Safe Zone Lie – A Future Without Freedom

Here you will find 12 activities based on the TED talk by Kang Lee "Can You Really Tell if a Kid Is Lying?". Students practice listening and speaking most of all, but some reading and writing are required, too. They also work with their guessing ability and have fun trying to spot "the liar". There is a teacher´s planning, the student´s copy, the transcript of the talk and the answers to the questions in the exercises. As an extra activity I have included a link to a survey which deals with the fact of spotting fake smiles, and which all my students have loved. 

Telling Lies - Transcript - Questions and Responses - 10 Pages

This worksheet explores the ethical consequences of a futuristic society where lying is no longer possible. In the year 2067, a new technology called the TruthSpec has become mandatory, allowing everyone to see whether someone is lying in real time. At first, it seems like a perfect solution to crime, corruption, and dishonesty—but soon, relationships, families, and everyday conversations begin to break down. Students read a 400-word dystopian background text, then discuss questions about honesty, privacy, and morality. They take part in a choose-your-own-adventure scenario where they must decide whether to join a secret group of rebels called the Deceivers, who have found a way to lie again. The worksheet ends with a creative writing homework task where students write a secret letter, exploring how they feel in a world where truth is no longer a choice. Ideal for B2–C1 students, this lesson encourages critical thinking, speaking, and emotional engagement in the classroom.

A World Without Lies – Ethics and the Truth Filter

in accordance with New Headway Pre-intermediate, P.24 ex.6. Use the past continuous and the past simple to write 1 true and 2 false sentences about where you were and what you were doing at specific times in the past. Then the other person has to guess which sentence is true / which ones are false. 

I usually do the first part in class, where the student tells about what he did in the past (communication exercise) - and the last part with friends and family members for homework (writing exercise).

Game Truth or Lies past simple & past continuous

A short passage with some comprehension questions. It's a story I heard on the radio and it made me laugh. This passage could lead to a discussion about personal qualities and about always telling the truth. A WHITE LIE is a lie you tell to spare someone's feelings, or a lie that is harmless and may do some good. 

RC: The Interview

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>

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18 Truth and lie English ESL worksheets pdf & doc