Your adult students can explain the present simple rule. Then they say she work, he don't and where you live? in the next sentence. The rule is not the problem. They need many quick, low-stakes chances to get it right, and a game gives them that: every turn is a sentence, and the other players check it.
Here are six present simple games for adults, all printable and all competitive, from a board game for the third person -s to a race to fix a baker's day. The free pack below has every game, with the answers on the page, so pairs play and check without you. If you want speaking activities with no printing at all, the sister post has five no-prep speaking activities for the present simple.
The games at a glance | # | Game | Level | Focus | | 1 | The -s Race | A1-A2 | -s endings | | 2 | Answer First | A1-B1 | Questions | | 3 | Guess the Neighbor | A1-A2 | Short answers | | 4 | Routine Top Trumps | A2-B1 | Wh-questions | | 5 | Adverb Order Race | A1-B1 | Word order | | 6 | Mistake Hunt | A2-B1 | Accuracy |
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| Free · printable PDFPresent Simple Games PackAll six games below, ready to print and numbered like this post: a board game, a points grid, sixteen neighbors to guess, twelve Top Trumps cards, cut-up sentences and a story with eight mistakes. The answers are printed upside down on each page.6 games8 pagesA1 to B1A4 and LetterDownload the free PDFUS Letter: PDF |
Why games work for the present simple with adults
- The mistakes are habits, not gaps. Adults know the -s rule. They forget it while they think about what to say. A game makes them say the form many times in ten minutes, which is how a habit changes.
- The other player checks. In every game here, a partner or the answer key decides if the sentence is right. Students listen to each other's grammar, and you are free to walk around and listen.
- Winning is a reason to be accurate. In the -s Race a wrong sentence sends you back. In Top Trumps, forgetting the -s loses the card. Students correct themselves because it costs them points.
- The topics are adult. Bosses, roommates, commutes, coffee and night shifts. Nothing about pets' birthdays or school bags.
How to run them
- Print one copy per pair or group. Games 3 to 5 need scissors or a pencil; the cover page of the pack says which.
- Play games 1 to 3 with A1 and A2 classes, then games 4 to 6 as students get stronger. Each game focuses on one form, so pick the one your class gets wrong most.
- In 1-1 lessons, play against your student. You take the other side of the board, the other team in Answer First or the other pile of Top Trumps cards.
- Online, share the PDF on screen and keep score in the chat. Games 2, 3 and 4 work best this way.
6 present simple games for adults
Games 1 to 3 are for beginners and focus on one form each. Games 4 to 6 mix the forms and suit pre-intermediate classes.
1of 6A1-A215 minhe, she, itFree printable · page 2 The -s Race How it works- Players roll a die and move their coin around a board of 28 squares.
- Each square has a subject and a verb, plus a sign: + make a statement, − a negative, ? a question.
- A partner checks the answer key at the bottom of the board. A wrong sentence sends the player back to the square they came from. The first player to reach Finish wins.
| ExampleSquaremy brother / watch football (+)AnswerMy brother watches football. |
| Why it works The subjects change on every square, from my sister to my parents to I, so students must decide each time if the verb needs an -s. That decision is the real skill, and a board game makes them take it about twenty times. A spelling box on the board settles the arguments about watches and studies. When students need the rule on paper first, the Present Simple Third Person worksheet covers the -s, -es and -ies forms with a short reading about a night nurse. |
| Free printable · page 2The board with 28 squares, a spelling box and the answers upside down.Download the free PDFUS Letter: PDF |
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2of 6A1-B115 minQuestionsFree printable · page 3 Answer First How it works- Two teams play on a grid of 16 cards in four topics: work, free time, food and home. Each card is worth 100 to 400 points.
- Every card shows an answer from Mia, an invented office worker: By bus. or Twice a week.
- A team chooses a card and asks the question that gets that answer, using the words on the card. The other team checks the key at the bottom. The team with more points at the end wins.
| ExampleCardTwice a week. (how often, go swimming)QuestionHow often does Mia go swimming? |
| Why it works Adults often skip does in questions and say Where Mia works? Starting from the answer forces them to build the whole question, and the harder cards add how often, who and why. One 400 card is a trap: Who cooks dinner? has no does at all. For a full lesson on question words, Who, What, Where? is an A1-A2 lesson on asking about people, places and everyday life. |
| Free printable · page 3A 16-card points grid in four topics, with one right question for each card upside down.Download the free PDFUS Letter: PDF |
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3of 6A1-A210 minYes/no questionsFree printable · page 4 Guess the Neighbor How it works- Each player has a copy of the page with sixteen neighbors. Each neighbor has four habits, such as drinks tea and works from home.
- Each player picks one neighbor in secret. Players take turns to ask yes/no questions: Does your neighbor have a dog?
- The partner answers with a short answer, Yes, she does or No, he doesn't, and the player crosses out the neighbors it can't be. The player who finds the neighbor with fewer questions wins the round.
| ExampleQuestionDoes your neighbor get up early?AnswerNo, he doesn't. |
| Why it works Every question is Does + he or she + verb, and every answer is a short answer, the two forms beginners mix up most. No two neighbors are the same, so four good questions always find the answer, and students soon learn to plan their questions. If your class enjoys guessing games, Who Am I? is an A1-A2 lesson built around the same idea, with famous people and a comic book. |
| Free printable · page 4Sixteen neighbors with four habits each, and the rules on one page.Download the free PDFUS Letter: PDF |
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4of 6A2-B115 minWh-questionsFree printable · pages 5-6 Routine Top Trumps How it works- Students deal out twelve cards. Each card is an invented worker, such as a night nurse, a baker or a TV chef, with four numbers: what time they get up, coffees a day, hours at work and minutes to get to work.
- Player A chooses a line and asks: What time does your person get up? Player B answers in a full sentence: Karl gets up at 3:30 a.m.
- The better number wins both cards. A player who forgets the -s loses the round. After ten minutes, the player with more cards wins.
| ExampleQuestionHow many cups of coffee does Tom drink a day?AnswerTom drinks seven cups a day. |
| Why it works Top Trumps needs a question and a full answer on every turn, and the numbers give students a reason to listen to each other. The night nurse who gets up at 3 p.m. always starts a conversation. When the class is ready for real routines, Miracle Morning looks at the morning habits of successful people, and Life As A Googler follows a working day at Google, both for A2-B1. |
| Free printable · pages 5-6Twelve character cards over two pages, with the questions for each line and the rule for ties.Download the free PDFUS Letter: PDF |
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5of 6A1-B115 minWord orderFree printable · page 7 Adverb Order Race How it works- Teams cut out ten sentences that are in pieces, with adverbs such as always, usually and hardly ever.
- They race to put each sentence in order and write it down. A number on every tile keeps the sentences apart.
- Teams check their sentences at the bottom of the page: one point for each right sentence. Then each student writes one true sentence about their own week with each adverb.
| ExampleTileslate · she · never · is · for meetingsSentenceShe is never late for meetings. |
| Why it works Students usually put the adverb in the wrong place, as in She always is late. Holding the tiles makes the rule physical: before the main verb, after be. Three sentences use be on purpose, and one has doesn't usually, so the race is not only speed. |
| Free printable · page 7Ten cut-up sentences, a frequency scale from always to never and the answers upside down.Download the free PDFUS Letter: PDF |
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6of 6A2-B110 minAccuracyFree printable · page 8 Mistake Hunt How it works- Pairs read a short text about Karl, the baker from the Top Trumps cards. It has eight mistakes with the present simple.
- They race to underline each mistake and write the right form, then write their time in the box.
- Pairs check with the key at the bottom: one point per mistake. Then each pair writes four sentences about a person they know, hides one mistake and swaps with another pair.
| ExampleTextHe get up at 3:30 every morning.FixHe gets up at 3:30 every morning. |
| Why it works The eight mistakes are the ones adults really make: a missing -s, don't for doesn't, studys, Does he sleeps and an adverb in the wrong place. Finding them in a text trains the eye that students later need for their own writing. For the next step, Present Simple vs Present Continuous is an A1-A2 worksheet on routines versus right now, and Struggles in Life is an A2-B1 lesson that uses both tenses to talk about hard times. |
| Free printable · page 8Karl's day with eight mistakes, a time box and lines for the pairs' own sentences.Download the free PDFUS Letter: PDF |
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Present Simple Games PackAll six games in one free PDF, page by page in the order of this post.Download the free PDF |
Mistakes your students will make
Teacher's reference Slips to listen for during these games | Students say | Better | Why | | She work in a bank. | She works in a bank. | He, she and it need -s. | | He don't like coffee. | He doesn't like coffee. | Doesn't for he, she and it. | | Does she works here? | Does she work here? | No -s after does. | | Where Mia works? | Where does Mia work? | Questions need do or does. | | Who does cook dinner? | Who cooks dinner? | No does when who is the subject. | | She always is late. | She is always late. | The adverb goes after be. | | He studys at night. | He studies at night. | Consonant + y becomes -ies. |
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Lessons for the present simple
