A selection of English ESL idioms printables with general vocabulary practice, vocabulary practice

General vocabulary practice

Idioms

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)

For personal or classroom use only. Uploading on other internet sharing platforms or any commercial use NOT PERMITTED. Share Alike.

Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License

Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives License

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike License

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License

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

There are 5 pages: the idioms poster, a page with definition cards of the idioms (could be used for conversations), a colorful ws practicing the idioms, a b&w version of the ws and a key. Who could ask for anything more?!

5 Page People Idioms + Vocabulary + KEY : Classroom Poster

It´s a worksheet to practice some slang (key included). Learn useful slang words to describe people. It's a fun way to learn new vocabulary. Also will help students understand TV and movies better.

Slang - Describing People

This is a New Year’s idioms lesson. Students study idioms connected to New Year’s resolutions in context and then match them to their definitions. Finally, they write mini dialogues to practise the idioms.





We have a teacher’s copy (including teacher’s notes) and a student version which you can email to your class for online lessons available in PDF from here..





https://tefllessons.com/product/new-years-idioms/





We also have other New Year's lessons, which are free to download.





https://tefllessons.com/product/new-years-resolutions-going-to/





https://tefllessons.com/product/new-years-phrasal-verbs/





https://tefllessons.com/product/new-years-web-quest/





https://tefllessons.com/product/new-years-speaking-activity/





Level:


This is most suited to B2-C1 level students.





Time:


45 minutes + 

New Year's Idioms

The worksheet contains exercises dealing with 9 English idioms describing people's feelings and behaviour, key is given.

https://en.islcollective.com/english-esl-worksheets/grammar/formal-and-informal-english/english-idioms-describing-people/75602

Food idioms describing feelings and behaviour

This worksheet deals with Heart and Head idioms. It consists of four exercises with the answer key.

Here you can find other English Idioms: 

 https://en.islcollective.com/english-esl-worksheets/grammar/formal-and-informal-english/english-idioms-describing-people/75602

Heart and Head idioms

This is a St Patrick’s Day Idioms lesson. Students study idioms connected to luck in context and then match them to their definitions. Finally, they write mini dialogues to practise the idioms.



We have a teacher’s copy (including teacher’s notes) and a student version which you can email to your class for online lessons.



Level:  This is most suited to B1 – C1 level students.



Time:  40 minutes + 



Get the FREE PDF with answer key and teacher notes here...



https://www.tefllessons.com/product/st-patricks-day-idioms/



Try some of our other FREE St Patrick's Day worksheets here...



https://www.tefllessons.com/product/st-patricks-day-speaking-task/



https://www.tefllessons.com/product/st-patricks-day-lesson-a2/



https://www.tefllessons.com/product/st-patricks-day-quiz/



You can access over 70 FREE worksheets and posters on our site when you register as a FREE member. :)

St Patrick's Day Idioms

This worksheet pays attention to English Idioms and consists of four exercises. Key is given.

https://en.islcollective.com/english-esl-worksheets/grammar/formal-and-informal-english/english-idioms-describing-people/75602

How well do you know English Idioms?

Idioms don't mean exactly what words in them say. They have hidden meaning. The worksheet consists of  two exercises. Students have to - match idioms to their definitions; 

- write 11 idioms in the gaps of the passage. Key is given 

Nationality idioms

Students have to do three exercises dealing with English idioms. Firstly, they match idioms with their definitions, then fill in the gaps with English idioms and finally choose the correct answer.  The answer key is given.

Idioms involving clothes

This worksheet was made for teaching and practising idiomatic expressions with the verb CUT. Students have to do three different exercises. Key is provided on page two.

Expressions with CUT

Matching and Speaking activity with "look" phrasal verbs.  This is actually a  preactivity to FCE Gold Unit 3 Fact or Fiction pg 32-33 and Unit 3 FCE Maximizer pg 23, but can be used on its own.  Answer Key provided.

Phrasal Verbs With LOOK

a worksheet about the use of make and do. in this worksheet, the teacher will find a summary of the uses of the two words "make" and "do". also some exercises about the different uses. 

87 Idioms, General vocabulary practice, Vocabulary Practice English ESL worksheets pdf & doc