Category: English games

Many verbs in English are often followed by the same preposition. Therefore it is best to learn them togehter from the beginning. However, even if you do this it is neccessary to sum it up from time to time.

ADVERT

[showmyads]

The following summary was created for my elementary students of English and it contains the verbs they know which are often followed by the prepositions FOR, ABOUT, AT and TO.

In this post you can find a mind map and two games to practise the usage of the given preposition.

The following mind map graphically shows the verbs which are used with the prepositions FOR, ABOUT, TO and AT.

Once you memorise all the verbs and prepositions that follow them you can try the following games. In the first game you should complete the sentences with the correct preposition. If you succeed you can play the game Highway Race. In this game you try to avoid all the cars on the highway. The best result has been 50,000 points. Can you do better?

The second game is a classic. It is called Teacher Invaders and your task is to shoot all the invaders before they destroy the whole planet. However, from time to time the game is interrupted and you have to complete a sentence with the correct preposition. Good luck.

If you liked this post and you feel that you need to practise the prepositions more you might like the following posts on our site.

Adjectives and prepositions

Prepositions for places

Prepositions of time.

Do you think that we should create some more posts? Please leave a comment and we might do it.

Recently I have published a post on giving advice. And our post on modal verbs won the British Council blog award. This post will deal with three ways to express the modal verb SHOULD. The different means are HAD BETTER and OUGHT TO. Both of these have the same meaning as SHOULD.

This grammar point often appears in FCE tests. So if you are planning to take an international certificate in English this post is really important for you.

ADVERT:
[showmyads]

Once you learn the three forms correctly you should have no problem with using them. However, remember that SHOULD is much more frequent than either OUGHT TO or HAD BETTER.

The first game is called Hoop Shoot. Your task is to choose the correct form and then score a basket. You can choose the difficulty too. Enjoy.

The second game is a simple quiz. Your task is to complete the second sentence in such a way that it means the same as the first one. However, you have to use the word in the bracket in your answer. There are 16 sentences and if you pass the quiz you will be given a chance to play the game Indiara. Good luck 🙂

First conditional is very similar to time clauses. However, I would say that first conditional is easier than time clauses.

First conditional is used if we speak about two possibilities in the future. After the conjunction IF we use present simple tense and in the other clause we use WILL. You can see the explanation in the mind map below and then you can try a quiz to practise this simple grammar.

ADVERT:
[showmyads] The most important thing to remember is, that you cannot use WILL after IF.

In this game you have to solve the quiz first and then you can play the game Visual memory. In this game you see some coloured squares and your task is to remember them and later click on them. While the game is quite easy at the beginning, it soons becomes really difficult and my best score is 420 points. Can you do better?

Have you ever tried to memorise the following list of verbs to know when you should use TO and when the ending ING?
ADVERT:
[showmyads]

Honestly, I have never been able to commit the list to memory. And even when I thought that I know the verbs I was not really sure which form follows them. And my students had the same problem.

So I have written a post on verb patterns. But it did not work. The division of the verbs was too complicated.

And when I started to be desperate I read a short comment under a post on verb patterns. There the author described his simple rule which worked in nearly 100% cases.

The rule goes like this: “If the first verb happens before the second verb, use TO. If the second verb happens at the same time or before the first verb use the ending -ING with the second verb. For example: I want to go out. (First I want and then I will go out) She stopped smoking. (First she smoked and then she stopped.) He agreed to do it. (First he agreed and then he did it)”

Simple, isn’t it? However, you have to be careful as the rule does not work for the verbs suggest, pretend and fail.

Below you can see the idea in a mind map and lower you can test it in several games.

The mind map contains a graphical explanation of the rule.

 

Well, once you think you understand the rules, it is time to put them into a test. The first game is called penalty and your task is to choose the correct verb and then try to score a goal. GOOD LUCK.

In the second game, you should complete the quiz and if you succeed you can play the game Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Phrasal verbs make many students feel hopeless. Even advanced students struggle with them and to be honest, I am not very comfortable with them either. Moreover, they seem very hard to memorise.

That is why I have prepared the following post. There is a story where all the verbs are used. Thus you can see them in context.
ADVERT:
[showmyads] Then you should read and listen to the story again and complete the mind map with the phrasal verbs from the story.

In the end you can practise the verbs in a quiz.

Watch and listen to the story and then answer the comprehension questions in the game.

Now answer the comprehension questions in the following game called On target. If you answer the questions correctly you should shoot as many bad ducks as possible. Don’t forget that you can get a bonus if you shoot any of the bottles on the walls.

Phrasal verbs – game Print out the following mind map and try to complete it with the phrasal verbs from the story.

Now it is time to practise the phrasal verbs in a quiz. If you complete the quiz successfully you will have an opportunity to play the game Hot race.

We have already published two posts on phrasal verbs here. The first one is called Phrasal verbs – Fred and Betty and you can see it be clicking here. There is an animated story and several exercises to memorise 12 phrasal verbs.

The other post deals with phrasal verbs from a slightly different point of view. It is called Phrasal verbs separable or non-separable and it explains which phrasal verbs stick together and which can be separated.

For and since are often given as the key words which signal that present perfect tense should be used. It is not 100% true but it makes life easier for elementary and lower intermediate students.

However, sometimes it is difficult for learners to know which word they should use. The rule is simple. FOR is used when we give the length of the time (for three days) and since is used when we give the beginning of the time (since Monday). You can see the graphical explanation of this rule below.
ADVERT:
[showmyads] In this post you can find an interactive video, where the grammar is explained and tested by the experts from BBC learning English.com, a mind map explaining the difference between FOR and SINCE graphically and a quiz with a game to practise the correct usage of the words For and SINCE.

Play the following video and answer the questions. If you succeed, you can play the game Highway race.
For and SINCE – interactive video In the mind map there is the graphical explanation of the usage of the words FOR and SINCE.

There are two games for you.

FOR and SINCE – quiz

There are 22 items in this quiz. If you answer more than 60% of all the questions correct (that is not so difficult) you can play the game called Rock, Paper and Scissors. In this game you win if you give a Rock and your opponent scissors, you give a paper and your opponent gives rock and finally, you win if you give scissors and your opponent gives a paper.

For and Since – Quiz

SINCE and FOR – fling the teacher game

This game is slightly more difficult as you mustn’t make a mistake to win. You have to answer all the questions correctly to build the machine and fire your teacher 🙂 You can use up to three helps which are displayed on the screen.

For and Since – Fling the teacher

There are many ways to speak about future in English. We have already dealt with two ways here. In the first blog we tried to distinguish between Will and MAY and Might on the basis of certainty that an event will happen.
ADVERT:
[showmyads] In this post I would like to demonstrate the difference between WILL and BE GOING TO. BE GOING TO is used when we speak about our plans while WILL is used for decisions made at the moment of speaking.

To give you a better chance to understand the difference between the two tenses there is an interactive video (based on BBC Grammar challenge), a mind map and two games.

I have used the BBC Grammar challenge twice before (Definite Articles and in ED and ING Adjectives) and in both cases I turned the original radio recording into a video. This time I went one step further. The video is interactive and you have to react to the tasks.
Watch the video and answer the questions. If you answer correctly the video will continue. If you answer wrongly you will hear the part again. Give it a try.

WILL and BE GOING TO – interactive video The following mind map shows the form of the two tenses and their usage. This mind map might not be suitable for everyone but the visual learners will profit a lot.

The first game is the easier one. Your task is to choose the correct form (WILL or GOING TO) and if your answer is correct you can shoot all the bad ducks. If you shoot one of the bottles you will get a bonus. Good luck.
WILL and BE GOING TO – On Target In the second game you have to write the correct future form (WILL or GOING TO). If you get more than 60% of all the forms correct, you can play the game Hot Race. Enjoy.
WILL and BE GOING TO – Hot Race If you do not have an internet connection at school, you can download the video and online quiz here. Unpack the files and find the index.html and play the quiz.

Future – all games and activities

I remember struggling with this grammar when I was at secondary school. As it is possible to translate the words IF and WITH with the same word in my mother tongue I couldn’t see the difference in English.

ADVERT:
[showmyads]

To help my students avoid this problem I have created the following mind map and several games. I hope they will help you too.

The basic difference between the words IF and WHEN is, that the word IF is used if you choose between two options. On the other hand the word WHEN is used when you speak about a time period after some decision or action. Have a look at the mind map below.

The first game is called Speedway race. Your task is to complete the sentences with WHEN or IF. If you succeed the computer will let you play the game. Your task is to avoid as many cars as possible. One of my students managed to score 50,000 points and then I had to stop him. The game is very addictive.
IF or WHEN – Speedway Race

The second game is called Hoopshoot. Your task is to choose the correct option and then hit the basket with the ball. Good luck.
IF or WHEN – Hoop shoot game

Recently I have been dealing with the modal verbs. First I created a mind map depicting all the modals in present and past tenses. That post was suitable for intemediate students. Then I wrote a post about the modal verbs Must and Should which was for elementary students.

In this post I would like to add the verb HAVE TO and explain its usage in English. This explanation is aimed at elementary students. At the end of the post there are two games to practise the modal verbs.

The triangles show the way HAVE TO forms sentences and the images on the right show the meaning of the verbs.
ADVERT:
[showmyads]

The first game contains a quiz and if you answer the questions correctly you will play a game called Hot Race. I have managed to win 8,853 points, but when we played the quiz at school one student scored 50,000 points and I had to stop him because we would not have done anything else in the lesson. Can you be better than him? 🙂
HAVE TO – Quiz The second game is called Reaction. Your task is to complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb HAVE. If you complete the sentences correctly, you will have to click on the ugly frog as quickly as possible. The quicker you click on the frog the better. My personal record is 18,250 points.
HAVE TO – Reaction

There have been many different attempts to explain the difference between the past simple and present perfect tenses to learners of English. I have tried to do this for example in my posts on present perfect basics, Present perfect tense vs Past simple or present perfect infographics.

In the textbook New Inside Out pre-intermediate they try to introduce the concept of “finished” and “up to now” time expressions. I think, it is not a bad way to distinguish between the past simple and present perfect tenses.

ADVERT:
[showmyads] According to the textbook, finished times are a the expressions which refer to a period or moments that finished in the past and are not connected to the present (for example, yesterday finished several hours ago and this is not connected to now). On the other hand, up to now time expressions refer to periods which are somehow connected to the present time (for example, today is still going on till this moment).

Then the theory is quite simple. If you use a time expression for finished time, use past simple tense. If you use a time expression for up to now time, use present perfect tense.

Here you can see the mind map which explains the differences between finished times and up to now times.

The finished times are just the points on the timeline. On the other hand, the up to now times are connected to the present moment.
In the first activity your task is to divide the times into two categories. On the first slide tick all the expressions for finished times and on the second tick all the expressions for up to now times. If you are successful you will get an opportunity to play the game Hot race.
Present perfect tense – quiz and Hot race In the second game your task is to choose the correct option and then if you are successful you should shoot all the bad ducks.
Present perfect tense – On target

At our sister site englishlearningmagazine.com we have published a new text on Prague. There is a text and a quiz to check your comprehension. It is mobile phones friendly, so give it a try.

This is one of the easiest grammar points for the Czech students because in their mother tongue there exists a structure which is similar to infinitive of purpose. Because of this, I am not going to spend too much time and energy on this grammar point.

Advert:
[showmyads] There is just a mind map explaining and demonstrating the infinitive of purpose and a game where you can practise the grammar.

Infinitive of purpose is used if you want to say why you did or do something.

In the following game you have to match the beginning and the end of the sentence. Then you have to rewrite the first sentence using the infinitive of purpose. If you pass the test you will have a chance to play the game Speedway racing. I have managed 6,732 points. Will you be better than me?

Infinitive of purpose – quiz and game There is just one game this time as I feel that this grammar is very easy and you do not need to practise it a lot. If you feel differently leave a comment and if there are a lot of comments demanding more games and quizzes I will gladly add them.

The environment is one of the most frequently discussed topics in the world. However, to be able to speak about this topic you need some basic vocabulary. In this post I try to introduce some words related to the topic of Environment. Later you can practise the new words in games.

ADVERT:
[showmyads]

In this post on you can find a video presentation of all the words given here:

Here is a video presentation of the vocabulary connected with the environment.

Once you know the words, try to divide them into the following mind map.

As it is holiday over here, I have had a lot of time and I have created several games to practise the vocabulary.
The first game is a simple quiz. Your task is to match the words and definitions, and then complete the sentences with the new words. If you pass the quiz you can play the game called Angry Finches as long as you like.
Environment vocabulary – quiz

The second game is called Reaction and your task is to complete the sentences with the missing words and then click on the ugly frog as quickly as possible.

Environment vocabulary – Reaction game

The third game is a dictation game. Listen to the sentences and if you write them correctly you will be given a chance to play the game called Hot race.

Environment vocabulary – Dictation

The last game is just loosely connected to the topic. It is called Reaction and your task is to write the adjectives of the given words. If you create the adjectives correctly you will play the game Reaction. Wait till the ugly frog appears and then click on it as quickly as you can.

Environment vocabulary – Adjectives

In this post I would like to introduce about 20 new words connected with towns. These words are neccessary if you want to speak about the place where you live or stay.

The vocabulary is for elementary and pre-intermediate students and it covers different basic features which can be found in towns and cities.
ADVERT:
[showmyads] This post contains a video with the correct pronunciation and example sentences. Then there is a mind map to help you organise the vocabulary and learn it. In the last part there are several games to give you an opportunity to practise the town vocabulary.

Watch the video and repeat the words you hear and see. Try to understand the example sentences and later try to repeat them too:

If you feel that you need to practise the words, watch the video several times.

Now you should try to complete the following mind map with all the words from the video. The words are listed in the bottom right corner of the mind map:

The first game will test your vocabulary knowledge. There are several quizzes and then, if you succeed, you can play a game. The game is called Hot race.
Town vocabulary – quizzes and games Many of my students feel that listening is the most difficult skill. Therefore, I have prepared the following dictation activity. You will hear several sentences and your task is to write the sentence you hear. If you are successful, you will get a chance to play the game Rock, scissors and paper. (Of course, you can skip the game, if you do not want to play it. Just click on the NEXT button and you will get another dictation.)
Town vocabulary – dictation

This post deals only with the basic usage of the modal verbs SHOULD and MUST. I have recently written a post on Modal verbs. This post was aimed at intermediate students and it demonstrated the usage and meaning of all the modal verbs in present and past tenses.

You can find here a graphical presentation of the usage of the verbs SHOULD and MUST and several completely new games to practise the usage of these verbs.

Here is the graphical presentation of the two modal verbs:
ADVERT:
[showmyads]

This time there are three different games to practise the two verbs. All the games are completely new and in one case there is more playing than learning.

The first game is called Reaction. Your task is to answer each question by filling in SHOULD or SHOULDN’T. If you answer correctly you have to wait till the frog appears. Once it appears, your task is to click on it as quickly as you can. My record is 18,250. Will you be better?

SHOULD – Reaction game The second game is the one where you will play more than learn. Your task is to fill in SHOULD or SHOULDN’T. After each correct answer you can play the Hot race. However, if you do not like the game you can skip it by clicking on the NEXT button. My personal best is 1:22 on the first circuit.
SHOULD – Racing game In the third game you have to complete the sentences with MUST or MUSTN’T. If you complete the whole exercise correctly, you can play the game Rock, Scissors and Paper. Can you beat the computer?
MUST – Rock, scissors and paper Do you find this blog interesting and innovative. Then you can like it at British Council Teaching English Facebook page. Ours is the HOW post.

Thanks for your support.

Finally, Easter is here. I have been looking for this holiday for weeks and it has arrived. I am really happy.

Last year I and Lynne Blackburn devoted a lot of time to our project called ELM (English Learning Magazine.) We created a full 14 page long magazine about Easter.

The magazine contains two articles about Easter traditions in Great Britain and in the Czech Republic, two stories for elementary students to practise past simple tense, two comics and several puzzles for fun.

ADVERT:
[showmyads]

You can download the file here:

ELM – Easter

Students usually understand the usage of the modals in present tense very quickly. However, when they start speaking about the past, they use the present tense or some non-existent forms, like “musted”.
Here I’ve tried to create a simple overview of all the modal verbs and their usage in present and past tenses. I hope you will find it at least a bit useful.

Have a look at this mind map. Notice that the modal verbs are in two colours. The white modal verbs are followed by an infinitive without to and the red modal verbs are followed by past participles. If you still have problems with the past participles please follow the link above or this one, which will take you to quizzes on past participles at our other site English Learning Magazine.
ADVERT:
[showmyads]
Once you have understood the explanation, it is time to practise your knowledge in two games on Modal verbs. The first one is called En Garde and your task is to choose the correct modal verb and then hit your opponent. Modal verbs – En Garde The second game is called Penalty. Once again you should choose the correct modal verb and then try to score a goal. Will you succeed? Modal verbs – Penalty We have started a new site for learners of English. While this site contains short grammar explanations and games to practise the grammar, the new site www.englishlearningmagazine.com contains tests and quizzes to practise English in general. For example, there is a text on Easter and you have to answer comprehension questions and then reconstruct the text.
Or you could practise the names of the plants in a post which contains the video with the names of the plants and three tests. Moreover, you can listen to a song and complete its lyrics.
The whole site is mobile phones friendly (unlike this one, where the games play only on desktops).
Enjoy.

In English there are many ways to speak about future and at the same time there are many grammarians who claim that there is nothing like a future tense in English. I do not want to discuss this issue here, I would only like to present two ways of speaking about future.

ADVERT:
[showmyads] First I will introduce the basic system of future tenses in English according to the speaker’s certainty. The tenses presented at the bottom of the pyramid are the least certain to happen. The tenses at the top of the pyramid are the most certain.

And in this post, I would like to deal with the tenses that are at the bottom of the pyramid: MAY/MIGHT and WILL.

First study the following mind map. Notice that MAY/MIGHT does not make questions about the future. Moreover, there do not exist any short forms of the negatives of MIGHT and MAY (no mayn’t or mightn’t.)

WILL is the most frequent form used to speak about the future. So if you are in doubt, use WILL. In both cases the verbs used after the words MIGHT/MAY and WILL are always in their basic form (in the infinitive without TO). Once you have studied the mind maps and the explanations above, it is time to practise all you have learnt in several games. The first game is called On Target and your task is to choose which word best suits into each gap. If you answer correctly you will be given a chance to shoot the bad ducks. You can shoot a bottle too and get a bonus.
Will and Might – On Target In the second game you should choose the correct form again and score a basket. Good luck.
Will and Might – Hoop shoot

Comparative is used when you want to compare two things. For example one person is tall and the other is short. So you will say: Person A is taller than person B. OR Person B is shorter than person A.
You can see some more examples below in the picture.

Superlative is used if you want to say that someone is number 1. For example, you can say that Usain Bolt is the fastest man in the world. There are other examples of the usage of superlatives in the picture:
There are several rules in English how to form comparatives and superlatives. First of all you have to decide whether the adjective is short or long. Short adjectives are those adjectives that have one syllable or that have two syllables and end with “Y”. If the adjective is short you add the ending “-er” for a comparative or “-est” for a superlative. There are several simple rules concerning the spelling which you can find in the mind map below.
If the adjective has two or more syllables and it does not end with “Y” then it is a long adjective and you have to add “more” or “most” in front of the adjective.
Advert:
[showmyads]

Irregular adjectives

You have to learn the following adjectives.

good – better – the best
bad – worse -the worst
far – futher / farther – the furthest / the farthest
little – less – the least

So now that you understand the rules how to form superlatives and comparatives in English it is time to practice them in games. In the first game your task is to write the adjectives in superlative or comparative form. Be careful about the spelling.
Comparatives and superlatives – Teacher invaders

In the second game you have to complete the sentences with the correct form of the adjective.

Comparatives and superlatives – Penalty

To say dates in English is quite simple. However, as there are two ways to do this, students often get confused and mix both of them together. I hope that this post will help them clarify this extremely important area.

To be able to say dates in English correctly, it is necessary to know the ordinal numbers. Most of the ordinal numbers are made by adding the ending -th.(If you have a problem with this sound, I strongly recommend this BBC video) However, as always, there are several exceptions to this rule. The rules are explained in ther upper right corner of the mind map.

ADVERT: [showmyads]

Notice the way the change of spelling of the words twenty and thirty. In English there are only two ways to say dates. You can either start with the month and then say THE and the ordinal number, or you can say THE + the ordinal number + OF + the month. Do not mix the two ways!!!

Once you have studied the mind map, it is time to practise everything. In the first game you have a chance to practise all the ordinal numbers. Your task is to shoot all the invaders and from time to time write the given ordinal number. There are all the ordinal numbers which you will ever need to say date.

Ordinal numbers – Teacher invaders

In the second game, called On target, your task is to choose the correct way a given date is said. I believe that if you play this game twice or three times you will learn the correct way to say the dates.

Dates – On target

If you come to this site using a mobile device you might hate the fact that most of the games do not play there. That is why I am trying to add a few HTML5 games to play even there. Here is one of them.

Find the ordinal numbers: Ordinal numbers – Find the words

All the materials in this post have been tested in the classroom and they have been improved on the basis of students’ reactions and suggestions. I hope that you will find them useful. If you study dates, you might need to improve your NUMBERS too. You can find a post on numbers here.

Here we go at last! This is the last chapter of the story Two Dates. Are you curious what will happen to Alan, Martha and Bruce. I hope that the ending of the story will surprise you at least a bit and that you will like it.
So, what are you waiting for? Start with the mind map and revive what happened in the previous parts of the story Two Dates. Then translate the vocabulary on the vocabulary branch. This time some of the words are pretty challenging. And once you know the new words start the story video.
In the end answer the comprehension questions in the mind map and discuss your opinions with a partner. Good luck and enjoy the story.

Here is the mind map which serves as a worksheet. Complete first the What happened and Vocabulary sections.
Advert:
[showmyads]

Once you have check up all the new vocabulary, it is time to watch the final chapter of the story Two Dates:

Now that you know the ending of the story it is time to concentrate on the language. There are two games here to practise the new words. The first one is a Hot Spot quiz and your task is to click on the word whose definition you can see at the top of the page. As the game is in HTML5 it should be viewable on all devices. Enjoy and I hope you will score 100%.

Two Dates – hot spot Html5 quiz

If you are using a mobile phone or an iPad you might be interested in another HTML5 game, you can go to Two Dates Chapter 3 where there is the memory game in HTML5.
The last game is in Flash and it is called Half a minute. Your task is to unjumble the words in 30 seconds. Good luck 🙂

Click Here to play the game – Two Dates – Half a minute

If you prefer reading the story, here is the text of the fourth chapter:

Alan decided to hide out in the library where it was quiet, and he knew most people would not be able to find him. He knew he was not a bad kid. True, he might not have the best qualities, or he might not be the best student, but he knew he was a pretty nice guy. He loved animals, and he loved helping people out. He did not deserve such a cruel treatment, so why were they so mean to him?

The sound of footsteps coming up towards him made Alan look up. Susan stood in front of him, with her arms across her chest.

Alan frowned. “What do you want from me?” he said rudely. “Haven’t you guys had enough?”

The look on Susan’s face softened. “I did not laugh at you Alan. That was mean of Martha.” She smiled gently at him and asked him if she could sit next to him. Alan grudgingly agreed. He was wary. Susan could pretend to be nice and then humiliate him again in front of the whole class just like Martha had.

“Why did she do that?” Alan asked Susan. “What did I do wrong?”

Susan shrugged. “Kids do stupid things. Kids can be mean. Martha is just being immature. Forget about her.”

Alan groaned and hid his face into his hands. “I’ll just switch schools. I can never go back to class again.”

Susan hit Alan lightly on the hand. “You can’t give up just like that!”

Alan sighed. “You don’t understand! Everyone laughs at me. I’ll never be able to go to the dance. I’ll be at home alone again, this year.”

Susan smiled, a little shyly. “Guess what,” she said. Alan looked at her. Susan was beautiful too, in a different way. She had a kind face, and a very sweet smile. “I could be your date for the dance.”

Alan stared at her in shock. After a while, he started laughing. “I won’t fall for that again. You’ll humiliate me too, like Martha did.”

Susan rolled her eyes. “Sure Alan. I skipped class, argued with Bruce in front of the whole class, let Martha yell at me too, defended you and looked for you all over the school, just so that I could humiliate you.”

Susan smiled at him. “C’mon, you can’t let bullies ruin your day. Chin up! The day isn’t over. So will you come to the dance with me?”

Alan hesitated for just a moment, enough for Susan to say, “What? Do you think Martha is prettier than me? Is that why you don’t want to come with me?”

“No!” Alan protested, and before he could even think, he grabbed Susan’s hand tightly. “I will come with you,” Susan smiled and kissed him lightly on his lips.

“See you in the class,” she said and walked away.

Alan smiled.

It was going to be a very different year indeed.