Mixed Future Tenses ESL Activities, Games and Worksheets

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Chairs of the Future

ESL Future Forms Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Forming Sentences, Answering Concept Checking Questions, Freer Practice - Pre-intermediate (A2) - 15 minutes

This insightful future tenses activity is useful for reviewing the three future forms: will, be going to and the present continuous. Put three chairs at the front of the class and label them with the three future forms. Students come up one by one, sit on one of the chairs, and make an appropriate sentence. Ask the student concept questions to make sure they are sitting in the correct chair. If the student's answers show they are sitting in the wrong place, they move to another chair and make a more suitable sentence.
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Change your Mind

ESL Will and Going To Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Asking and Answering Questions from Prompts, Controlled and Freer Practice - Pre-intermediate (A2) - 20 minutes

In this free future tenses speaking activity, students ask about future plans using be going to and make spontaneous decisions with will. Students hold their cards so that the side marked 'Plan' is facing them and the side marked 'Decision' is facing away. Students then go around the class and ask and answer questions about their future plans using the cards as prompts. When a student asks the question on their card, their partner uses will to make a spontaneous decision about the plan by choosing from two prompts. In the activity, students repeat the same question several times but practice making different decisions each time they change partner. When the students have spoken to several partners, they exchange cards and repeat the activity.
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Future Sentences

ESL Future Tenses Game - Grammar and Speaking: Forming Sentences from Prompts - Group Work - Pre-intermediate (A2) - 25 minutes

In this productive future tenses game, students practice making sentences about the future with would like to, want to, hope to and be going to. Students take turns turning over two cards. If the two cards go together (e.g. would like to / go), the student makes a sentence about the future with the words on the cards, e.g. 'I would like to go shopping this weekend.' The other group members listen to the student's sentence and judge whether it's correct. If it is, the student keeps the two cards and has another turn. If the sentence is wrong or the two cards don't go together, the student turns the cards back over. The student with the most cards at the end of the game wins.
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Going to or Will?

ESL Be Going To or Will Worksheet - Grammar Exercise: Gap-fill - Pre-intermediate (A2) - 20 minutes

This useful be going to or will worksheet helps to teach students how to use be going to for future plans and will for offers, promises, unplanned decisions and predictions. First, students decide what is happening in each sentence, i.e. a future plan, an unplanned decision, an offer, a promise or a prediction. Students then complete the sentences with will or be going to and the verb in brackets. Afterwards, check the function of the future form in each sentence with the class.
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The Future You

ESL Will and Going To Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Gap-fill, Forming, Asking and Answering Questions From Prompts - Pre-intermediate (A2) - 35 minutes

Here is an engaging future tenses speaking activity to help students practice the future forms: will, be going to and the present continuous. Students begin by completing sentences on the worksheet with verbs in brackets with will, be going to or the present continuous. Next, students prepare questions they need to ask in order to find people who the sentences are true for. Students then go around asking the questions to their classmates, e.g. 'Are you meeting a friend after class?' When a student finds someone who answers 'yes' to a question, the student writes down their name to complete the sentence and asks a follow-up question to gain more information, noting down the answer in the last column. When everyone has finished, students give feedback to the class on what they found out by reading their completed sentences and giving extra information.
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What does the future hold?

ESL Future Forms Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Forming, Asking and Answering Questions, Controlled and Freer Practice - Pre-intermediate (A2) - 30 minutes

This future tenses Find Someone Who activity is perfect for reviewing future forms and their functions. The activity covers will for predictions, be going to for future plans and intentions, the present continuous for definite arrangements as well as the future perfect, future continuous and would like. In the activity, students practice asking and answering questions using a variety of future forms. To start, students change sentences on their worksheets into questions. Students then move around the classroom asking and answering their questions and completing their worksheets. When a student finds someone who answers positively to one of their questions, they write down that person's name and ask follow-up questions from the worksheet. When everyone has finished, elicit which future form was used in each question and why. After that, students give feedback to the rest of the class on what they found out about their classmates.
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A Week in my Country

ESL Future Tenses Activity - Speaking: Discussing and Planning a Schedule, Presenting, Freer Practice - Group Work -Intermediate (B1) - 40 minutes

Here is an enjoyable will and going to activity to use in class with your students. In the activity, students use the future form will to make decisions about a holiday itinerary and then present their planned itinerary to the class using be going to. In groups, students imagine they have invited some friends to spend a week in their country. Each group discusses and decides on a holiday itinerary for themselves and their visiting friends using will. Students then write their plans in the itinerary on their worksheet using be going to. Finally, groups present their planned itineraries to the class who votes for the best one.
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Dialogue Disarray

ESL Future Tenses Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Gap-fill, Ordering, Role-Play, Controlled Practice - Pair Work - Intermediate (B1) - 25 minutes

Here is a challenging future tenses activity to use in class. In the activity, students practice will, be going to and the present continuous by completing and ordering two dialogues. The students' task is to complete sentences with the appropriate future forms and put conversations in the correct order by reading the sentences to a partner and numbering them. Student A starts the first dialogue by looking at their sentences, completing the most suitable one in the future tense and reading it to their partner. The student then puts the number 1 next to the sentence. Student B listens, looks for a suitable reply, completes the sentence and then reads that reply to Student A, putting number 2 next to the sentence. This process continues until the conversation has been put in order. Students then move on to the second dialogue with Student B starting the conversation. Finally, review the two dialogues and future forms with the class.
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Future Tenses Board Game

ESL Future Tenses Board Game - Grammar and Speaking: Impromptu Speech, Communicative Practice - Group Work - Intermediate (B1) - 30 minutes

Here is a free future tenses board game to get your students talking about the future using the present continuous, be going to, will, won't and would like to. Students take turns rolling the dice and moving their counter along the board. When a student lands on a square, they talk about the topic on the square for 30 seconds using the correct future form. If a student can’t think of anything to say, makes a grammar mistake, or stops talking before the 30 seconds are up, they go back two spaces. The first student to reach the finish wins the game.
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Questions of the Future

ESL Future Tenses Game - Grammar: Writing Sentences from Prompts, Guessing - Intermediate (B1) - 30 minutes

In this intriguing future tenses game, students practice future forms by anonymously completing a questionnaire and then guessing who completed other questionnaires from their answers. First, students anonymously complete a questionnaire by writing their answers in sentence form in the spaces provided. Students then put an assigned number at the top of the questionnaire and hand it in. Next, students take turns coming to the front of the class and reading the answers on another student's questionnaire to the class along with the student's number. The other students listen and guess which classmate wrote the answers. Students write their guesses on a piece of paper. When all the questionnaires have been read out, students reveal their numbers. Students score one point for each correct guess. The student with the most points wins.
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Race to the Top

ESL Future Tenses Board Game - Grammar Game: Answering Questions from Prompts, Forming Questions and Sentences - Group Work - Intermediate (B1) - 25 minutes

This fun future tenses board game is ideal for reviewing future forms. Players take turns rolling the dice and moving their counter along the board. When a player lands on a square, they answer the question using an appropriate future form. Players must give detailed answers and form sentences. If a player lands on a square containing a question mark, the player asks the other students in the group a question about the future which they each answer in turn. The other students in the group judge whether the player's answer or question is grammatically correct. If it is, the player stays on the square. If a player makes a mistake or cannot think of an answer or question, they go back two squares. The first player to reach the finish wins the game.
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Will or Be Going To?

ESL Will or Be Going To Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Gap-fill, Matching, Writing Sentences from Prompts, Binary Choice, Error Correction, Rewriting Sentences - Intermediate (B1) - 30 minutes

This comprehensive will or going to worksheet helps students practice or review the differences between these two future forms. Students begin with a gap-fill exercise where they complete sentences with will or be going to and verbs in brackets. Then, students match statements or questions with responses. Next, students rewrite will and be going to sentences in their negative form. Students then move on to choose the correct future form in will and be going to sentences. Lastly, students correct mistakes in sentences and rewrite them.
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Cards of the Future

ESL Future Tenses Game - Grammar and Speaking Game: Matching, Asking and Answering Questions from Prompts - Group Work - Upper-intermediate (B2) - 40 minutes

In this imaginative future tenses game, students ask and answer questions about the future using will, be going to and the present continuous. In groups, students take turns picking up a question prompt card and deciding which future form would be the most suitable match for the question on the card (e.g. a prediction, a decision, an arrangement, etc.). The student then uses the future form and prompt to ask a question to the other students. If the student forms the question correctly, they score a point. The other students then reply using the appropriate future form. For each suitable response, students also score a point. The question card is then placed under the future form card. The student with the most points at the end of the game wins.
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Focusing on the Future

ESL Future Tenses Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Guided Discussions - Pair Work - Upper-intermediate (B2) - 35 minutes

In this rewarding future expressions game, students discuss various questions using the future expressions: about to, due to, be on the verge of, bound to, is to, on the point of, destined to, going to and hoping to. In pairs, one student picks up a question card, reads it aloud and places it face-up on the desk, e.g. 'What exciting changes do you see in your career or personal life in the next five years?' The two students then have a conversation about the question for two minutes. As the students talk, they try to naturally work a sentence into the conversation that uses a future expression on a card. For example, if a student had a future expression card that read about to, the student might say 'I'm about to graduate from school, so I think in the next five years I'll get a job.' When a student successfully uses their future expression in the conversation, they score a point and take another future expression card, trying to use the next phrase in the conversation. After two minutes, the conversation ends, and the students place all the future expression cards back in the pile. The game continues until all the question cards have been used. The student with the most points at the end of the game wins.
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Future Tenses Grammar Gamble

ESL Future Tenses Game - Grammar: Gap-fill, Betting - Upper-intermediate (B2) - 25 minutes

In this handy mixed future tenses game, students complete sentences referencing the future and the future in the past and then place bets on their answers. First, students complete sentences with verbs from a box in their correct future forms. Students then bet between one and five points, depending on how sure they are about each answer, five being very sure and one not at all sure. Afterwards, go through the correct answers by eliciting the sentences from the class. For each correct answer, students put a tick and write the number they bet in the points column. For incorrect answers, students put a cross and write the number with a minus sign in front of it in the points column. Afterwards, students add up their points to get a grand total. The student with the most points wins the game.
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I'm about to win!

ESL Future Expressions Game - Grammar: Sentence Completion - Group Work - Upper-intermediate (B2) - 25 minutes

In this future expressions with be game, students complete sentences with due to, about to, just about to, and to. The aim of the game is for players to get four squares in a row whilst trying to prevent their opponent from doing the same. Players take turns choosing a square and completing the sentence using one of the verbs provided along with due to, about to, just about to, or to, e.g. 'Hurry up! The class is about to start'. The student adjudicating then checks the answer sheet. If the sentence is correct, the player marks their square with an 'O' or 'X' accordingly. It's then the other player's turn to choose a square. The first player to get four squares in a row is the winner. If no one manages to do this, the player with the most squares wins. When the students have finished, they swap roles and play game 2, giving the student who acted as adjudicator a chance to play.
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New Year's Resolutions

ESL Future Intentions Worksheet - Grammar and Writing Exercises: Rating, Writing Sentences from Prompts - Speaking Activity: Guided Discussion - Group Work - Upper-intermediate (B2) - 25 minutes

In this creative New Year's resolutions worksheet, students learn future forms to express intentions with varying degrees of certainty and use them to make, discuss and plan New Year's resolutions. First, students read five ways to express a New Year's resolution and categorise them, according to their varying degrees of certainty. Next, students write one New Year's resolution for each aspect of their life, indicating the certainty of the resolution with an appropriate phrase. In groups, students then take turns sharing one of their less certain New Year's resolutions. The other group members listen and try to give advice to the student to help them achieve their goal. Finally, based on the advice given by their classmates, students write a plan to help them keep their New Year's resolution and share it with the class.
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