December is the one month when every adult student has something to say. They have plans, memories, opinions about the family dinner and a stack of cards to write. That is a gift for a grammar lesson, because the grammar you already need to teach finally has a real job to do.
Below are five Christmas grammar topics, one for each level from A1 to C1, plus a bonus on holiday card grammar that adults ask about every year. Each one comes with a short model text, an activity, the mistake to listen for and a free worksheet. The worksheets work in class, online or as homework, and the answers are on the last page.
At a glance: one PDF page per activity | # | Grammar | Activity | Level | | 1 | Past simple | Lucía's Last December | A1-A2 | | 2 | Future forms | The Week Between Christmas and New Year | A2-B1 | | 3 | Comparatives | Three Ways to Spend Christmas | A2-B1 | | 4 | Modal verbs | Dear Holly: A Holiday Problem Page | B1-B2 | | 5 | Conditionals | The Christmas Eve That Went Wrong | B2-C1 | | 6 | Card grammar | Fix the Card | B1-B2 |
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| Free · printable PDFChristmas Grammar WorksheetsOne worksheet for each activity below, numbered like this post: a past simple story, a holiday week planner, a comparison table, a problem page, a chain of conditionals and eight holiday cards to correct. The answers are on page 7, so students can check their own work.6 worksheets + answers7 pagesA1 to C1A4 and LetterDownload the free PDFUS Letter: PDF |
Why grammar works so well in December
- The context is ready-made. Last December, the plans for this one and the family dinner give every tense a story to live in, so you spend no time inventing situations.
- Adults need this language in real life. They will write holiday emails to colleagues, make plans with family and complain about the line at the market, all in English, all this month.
- It keeps students coming. In December, lessons get canceled for parties and trips. A lesson that feels seasonal but still teaches something keeps adults in the habit until January.
5 Christmas grammar topics, from A1 to C1
1of 6A1-A220 minPast simpleFree printable · page 1 Past simple: Lucía's Last DecemberRegular verbs add -ed, irregular verbs change, and did carries the question: Did you go to the market? Last December is the perfect setting, because every student has one. How to run it- Tell the class one short thing about your own last December: I went to the Christmas market and bought far too much.
- Students fill the twelve gaps in Lucía's story with verbs from the box, then check the answers on page 7.
- They finish five sentences about their own last December, then ask a partner eight Did you ...? questions and tick the answers.
| From Lucía's storyshe put the lights upher son made a paper starthey bought hot chocolateIt wasn't perfect, but everybody ate it. |
| Why it works The story mixes regular verbs (finished, looked, baked) with the irregular ones beginners get wrong most (went, bought, came, ate). The pair questions then make students use did and the base verb, which is where the real mistakes happen. |
| Listen for Did you went to the market?
Did you go to the market?
After did, the verb goes back to its base form. |
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| Free printable · page 1Lucía's story with twelve gaps and a verb box, five sentence starters about your own December and eight Did you ...? questions with Yes and No boxes.Download the free PDFUS Letter: PDF |
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2of 6A2-B120 minFuture formsFree printable · page 2 Three futures, three jobs. Something booked takes the present continuous, a plan made earlier takes be going to, and a decision made right now takes will. How to run it- Show Leo's planner. Ask: which notes have a time or a ticket? Those are booked. The rest are only ideas.
- Students write one sentence for each day, then react to four changes of plan with will: the train is canceled, the dinner guest is ill.
- Each student writes two booked things and two plans for their own week, and pairs ask What are you doing on the 31st?
| Booked, plan, decisionBookedHe's taking the 8:15 train on Sunday.PlanHe's going to clean the apartment.DecisionI'll take the bus, then. |
| Why it works Students often learn will and going to as a pair and forget the present continuous, but holiday talk is full of bookings: trains, tables, appointments. The Booked and Plan labels on the planner make the choice visible. |
| Listen for I will see the dentist on Monday. It's booked.
I'm seeing the dentist on Monday.
A fixed arrangement with a time takes the present continuous. |
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| Free printable · page 2Leo's planner for December 26 to 31, four changes of plan to answer with will, and lines for the student's own week.Download the free PDFUS Letter: PDF |
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3of 6A2-B120 minComparativesFree printable · page 3 Comparatives and superlatives: Three Ways to Spend ChristmasShort adjectives add -er and -est, long ones take more and the most, and good, bad and far do their own thing. How to run it- Ask the class where they would rather spend Christmas: at home, in a mountain cabin or at a beach hotel. Take a quick vote.
- Students read the fact table and write six comparisons and five superlatives from it. The first answer of each task is done for them.
- Each student ranks six parts of December, from the first snow to the office party, then compares the ranking with a partner.
| From the fact tableCost€400 · €1,400 · €2,600Temperature4°C · -8°C · 29°CAnswerThe beach hotel is the most expensive. |
| Why it works The table has real numbers, so every sentence can be checked: the cabin is colder, the hotel is farther. That stops the vague it's more nice answers. The ranking at the end opens it back up, because there is no right answer to the office party. |
| Listen for The hotel is more cheaper than the cabin.
The hotel is cheaper than the cabin.
Use -er or more, never both. |
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| Free printable · page 3The fact table on three ways to spend Christmas, eleven sentences to write from it and a six-item December ranking for pairs.Download the free PDFUS Letter: PDF |
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4of 6B1-B225 minModal verbsFree printable · page 4 Modal verbs: Dear Holly, A Holiday Problem PageShould and ought to give advice, must and have to make a rule, and the pair students mix up most is mustn't (don't do it) and don't have to (it isn't necessary). How to run it- Read the three letters to Holly: Marek overspends every December, Ana has her in-laws for a week, Daniel picked his boss in Secret Santa.
- Each student answers one letter as Holly in four sentences, using three modals from the box.
- They circle mustn't or don't have to in six holiday sentences, then swap their letters with a partner and decide whose advice is more useful.
| Holly's adviceYou should set a limit before you shop.You don't have to buy something serious.You mustn't spend more than €20. |
| Why it works A problem page is the most natural place for modals, and every adult has an opinion on overspending and in-laws. Writing as Holly gives students a role, so the advice can be direct without being personal. |
| Listen for You must to buy a gift for everybody.
You don't have to buy a gift for everybody.
No to after must, and when something isn't necessary, use don't have to. |
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| Free printable · page 4Three problem letters, a box of eight modals, lines for Holly's reply and six mustn't or don't have to sentences.Download the free PDFUS Letter: PDF |
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5of 6B2-C125 minConditionalsFree printable · page 5 Conditionals: The Christmas Eve That Went WrongThe third conditional imagines a different past (If he hadn't forgotten the fish, ...), the second imagines a different present, and a mixed conditional joins a past cause to a result now. How to run it- Students read a short story: Tom forgot the fish, the line was an hour long, the potatoes burned, and pizza saved Christmas Eve.
- They finish a chain of six third conditionals, where each result becomes the next condition.
- They answer four What would you do if ...? questions, and C1 students write two mixed conditionals about the story.
| The chain1If Tom hadn't forgotten the fish, he wouldn't have gone to the market.2If the line hadn't been so long, ...C1If the potatoes hadn't burned, pizza wouldn't be their tradition now. |
| Why it works A chain makes students build the full form again and again, and the story keeps it funny instead of heavy. Most conditional practice is about regrets. This one ends with a family tradition, which is exactly what the mixed conditional is for. |
| Listen for If I would have known, I would have cooked.
If I had known, I would have cooked.
No would in the if part. |
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| Free printable · page 5The Christmas Eve story, a six-step chain of third conditionals, four second conditional questions and a C1 task with mixed conditionals.Download the free PDFUS Letter: PDF |
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Bonus: holiday card grammar
Every December, adult students write holiday messages to colleagues and clients, and the same small mistakes keep coming back. They are rarely in a textbook, so this page collects them.
6of 6B1-B215 minCard grammarFree printable · page 6 Fix the CardHoliday messages use a small set of fixed phrases, so one wrong preposition or apostrophe is easy to see and easy to fix. How to run it- Students read eight short holiday messages. Each one has one mistake.
- They underline it and write the message again, correctly, then check on page 7, where every answer has a one-line rule.
- To finish, each student writes a three-line card to a colleague with two phrases from the box, and a partner checks the grammar.
| Three of the eight cardsCard 1Congratulations with Christmas, dear Olga!Card 2Best wishes from the Smith's!Card 8Looking forward to see you in January. |
| Why it works Congratulations with Christmas is a word-for-word translation for many Ukrainian students, and the Smith's trips up native speakers too. Correcting a card written by an invented colleague is safer than having your own corrected, and the result is a card students can actually send. |
| Listen for Same for you!
Same to you! / You too!
Same to you and You too are the fixed answers to a holiday wish. |
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| Free printable · page 6Eight holiday messages to correct, a box of six card phrases and lines for a card to a colleague.Download the free PDFUS Letter: PDF |
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Christmas Grammar WorksheetsAll six worksheets and the answer key in one free PDF, page by page in the order of this post.Download the free PDF |
Christmas grammar lessons by level
When you want a full hour planned for you, these lessons teach a grammar point through a Christmas or winter topic. For every Christmas lesson in the library, sorted by level, see our Christmas and New Year lesson plans. For speaking without a grammar focus, try the 30 Christmas conversation questions.
Final thoughts
Christmas grammar works when the holiday is the context, not the topic. The tense is still the lesson. What changes is that students have something true to say with it: where they went last December, what they have booked for the 28th and which part of the season they could do without.
Print the six worksheets once and they last you the whole of December, from the first lesson of the month to the last one before the break.
