Some Simple Grammar Games

By Sarah Sahr

Grammar. What can I say? Grammar. One of those necessary evils we encounter. So often,
teachers retreat to traditional classroom activities when teaching grammar. However, there are
several cooperative and communicative things we can do in the classroom to engage our
students in grammar lessons. Below are just a few grammar games to show our students the
fun side of grammar.

Group Table Games:

1. Word Sort – Create eight small cards with the eight parts of speech and several more cards
with general words (at least five general words for each part of speech). Have students
group the cards with the correct part of speech. If you want to give a bit of a challenge,
have students define each part of speech first on the back of the small card.

2. Sentence Scrambles – Create long, compound-complex sentences and have students put the
words in order. For example:

The girl, who danced at the party,

is very tired, and her feet hurt.

It might be a good twist to just give a simple sentence first: The girl is very tired. Once
groups get that sentence correct, give them the next group of words: and her feet hurt.
Once that is complete, add the clause: who danced all night.

To make it more challenging, add more than one sentence to the mix.

Learning English is challenging and very fun.

After school had finished, my family took
a trip to the south of France.
Late at night, the stars shine brightly.

Note: Students should be able to make multiple combinations of sentences. Make sure they
know how many complete sentences there are, and that all words must be used.

3. Creating Sentences – Give students a subject, a verb, and an object. In groups, students
must create nine sentences, using each of the nine tenses. E.g., give them: cat, to chase,
mouse. They must come up with:
a. The cat chases the mouse.
b. The cat is chasing the mouse.
c. The cat has chased the mouse.
d. The cat chased the mouse.
 e. Etc.

4. Matching Conditionals – Cut out the conditional sentences below, or create your own, and
have students match the “if” clause with the other part of the conditionals:

If today is Wednesday, tomorrow is Thursday.

If I can do it,
If it is raining,
If the exam is hard,
If Mary does well on the exam,
If Fred studies,
If George had enough money,
If I won the lottery,
If she knew the answer,
anyone can do it.
the streets will get wet.
many students are going to fail.
she will get an A in the class
he should pass the exam.
he would buy a new car.
I would buy you a present.
she would tell us.

Once finished, ask students to label the sentences as first, second, or third conditional
(there are three of each).

5. Small White Board Games – Small clipboard-sized white boards are great resources to have
in an ESL/EFL classroom. Usually, if you are doing a small white board activity, groups of
four are best. All the activities below are a race. The first group to raise their white board
over their heads with the correct answer gets a point. Here are some starter activities to
spark your interest. The possibilities are actually endless!
a. Irregular Verbs – Call out the infinitive of an irregular verb. Students have to
write the correct past tense or past participial. Spelling and neatness counts.
b. Picking out a word – Read a sentence to the class that has a particular grammar
point you are looking for, e.g., prepositions. Read the sentence and have the
students write the preposition on the white board.
c. Comparatives & Superlatives – Give students an adjective and have them change
the form to its comparative or superlative. Make sure to give single syllable
words, multisyllabic words, and irregulars…just to keep students alert.
Side note: White boards don’t only have to be for grammar. They can easily be used for
spelling tests, vocabulary reviews, comprehension questions, naming flashcards, etc.

6. Mad Libs – Mad Libs are a great way to have students start thinking of parts of speech. If
available, have some books on hand for students to use when they finish their work early (You
can order them at Amazon). Or, the Internet has some great places where students can work on
Mad Libs independently. This video shows how it is done: These are some great examples of
online Mad Libs to play with students.

Passing Paper Games

7. Pictures and Propositions – Break students into groups of 10 and sit each group in a circle.
Each student must have a blank sheet of white paper, a pen/pencil, and something to write
on. First, students should put their initials at the bottom right corner of their paper to
indicate that this paper is theirs. Next, each student must write a sentence in a particular
tense, such as present continuous. (You can even be more specific: The sentence must be
present continuous, have a prepositional phrase but be no more than 10 words.) Once each
student writes an original sentence on their paper, following the constraints, they pass the
paper to the student sitting to their left. It is very important that all students pass the paper
at the same time, so that no student ever has more than one piece of paper at any given
time. On their neighbor’s paper, students must draw a small picture under the sentence
that represents the original sentence. Once the picture has been drawn, he or she folds
over the paper to hide the sentence. Then, the paper is passed to the next student on the
left. The next student (note: this should be the third person in the progression) is to write a
sentence based on the picture drawn. The student should not see the original sentence.
Once this new sentence is created, everyone should fold over the paper to hide the picture
so that it shows only the latest sentence, and pass the paper again to the person on the left.
Students should then draw a picture of the new sentence. Once complete, fold the paper
and pass…the next student writes a sentence and so on: sentence – picture – sentence –
picture – etc. Remember, all students should be working all the time on someone’s paper.
Papers are passed simultaneously. Remind students of the sentence constraints. Continue
passing papers until students get their original paper back. Unfold and enjoy.

8. Pass the Story – Similar to the activity above, this exercise starts with every student having a
sheet of notebook paper, blank except for a story starter*, created by the teacher, at the
top of each paper. Students are responsible for making a comprehensible story by writing
one sentence and then passing the paper to the next person. (No need to fold papers over
to hide the previous information.) The next person reads all the sentences created so far
and adds the next sentence of the story and so on…it works best if you put the class into
circles of 10 people. Remember, students in each group must pass the paper at the same
time. Don’t forget to have students put their initials at the bottom of their papers to know
which paper began with them.

*for example: There was a loud explosion in the kitchen.

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Sarah Sahr works at TESOL and has her Masters in ESL administration. She has managed a
school in Vietnam, trained teachers in South Korea, implemented school reform in Qatar, run a
circus train classroom for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, and taught 8th grade writing in
Maryland. Prior to all that, Sarah was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ethiopia. She is also a certified
ashtanga yoga instructor and has managed an eco-lodge in Chugchilan, Ecuador.