Question Words ESL Activities, Games and Worksheets

ESL Question Words Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Forming, Asking and Answering Questions, Controlled and Freer Practice - Pair Work In this free question words activity, students complete conversation questions with question words and then ask and answer the questions with a partner. Working alone, students use 12 question words to complete conversation questions, using each question word once. Students then take turns asking the questions to a partner, noting down their answers and asking Wh follow-up questions to gain more information. Afterwards, students give feedback to the class on what they found out about their partner. show less

ESL Question Words Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Matching, Categorizing, Gap-fill, Writing Questions This productive question words worksheet helps students learn and practice how to use question words. Students begin by matching answers with questions. Next, students think about which question word can be used for words and phrases and sort them accordingly. Students then match the question words with the things they are used to ask about. After that, students use the question words to complete questions. Finally, students write questions that would elicit given answers. show less

ESL Question Words Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Forming, Asking and Answering Questions, Controlled and Freer Practice - Pair Work In this insightful question words activity, students complete questions with question words and then ask and answer the questions with a partner. First, students complete questions with question words using short answers to help them. Next, students take turns asking the questions to a partner and writing down their answers in the last column. Students also ask follow-up questions to gain more information when possible. Afterwards, students report back to the class on the things they found out about their partner. show less

ESL Question Words Activity - Grammar, Writing and Speaking: Completing, Writing and Answering Questions - Group Work In this engaging question words activity, students write questions using different question words and phrases for other students to answer. This activity can also be used as an icebreaker on the first day of class. First, students write their name on the worksheet and give it to the person sitting on their right. This person thinks of a question that they would like to ask the student whose name is on the worksheet. Students write their question on the worksheet by completing one of the unfinished questions or by using the empty spaces at the bottom of the worksheet to write their own question. When students have written a question, they write their name next to it. Students then give the worksheet to the person on their right and repeat the process. The activity continues until the students receive their worksheet back. Students then find the person who wrote each question and answer it. show less

ESL Question Words Game - Grammar and Speaking: Forming Questions - Group Work In this fun question words game, students play bingo by racing to make questions from question words. Students take turns picking up a topic card and reading the topic to the group, e.g. hobbies and free time. The other group members then race to make a question relating to the topic using one of the question words on their bingo card. The first student to ask a suitable question to the student holding the card wins, e.g. 'What is your favourite hobby?' The student holding the card then answers the question and the other student crosses off the question word from their bingo card. The first student to cross off all the question words on their bingo card wins the game and shouts 'Bingo!' show less

ESL Question Words Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Sentence Completion, Writing, Asking and Answering Questions, Freer Practice Here is a creative question words activity to help students practice forming questions with specific question words. This activity can also be used to help students get to know each other. Students begin by completing 12 sentences with true information about themselves, e.g. 'I usually wake up at seven o'clock.' Next, students write a question for each sentence using 12 question words, e.g. 'What time do you usually wake up?' Students then go around the classroom asking the questions. When a student finds someone whose answer is the same as what they have written, they write down their name and ask Wh follow-up questions to gain more information. Finally, students give feedback to the rest of the class on what they found out. show less

ESL Question Words Game - Grammar and Speaking: Forming, Asking and Answering Questions, Guessing, Freer Practice - Pair Work In this free question words game, students race to elicit words by asking questions. Set a ten-minute time limit. Student A then asks questions to their partner to elicit as many words from their worksheet as possible in any order. When their partner says the correct word, Student A puts a tick next to the word. If their partner cannot guess the word after a few questions, they move on to another word. After ten minutes, students swap roles. Finally, students add up their ticks, scoring a point for each one. The pair with the highest combined score at the end of the game wins. show less

ESL How Question Words Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Quiz, Forming, Asking and Answering Questions, Guessing, Controlled and Freer Practice - Pair Work In this entertaining How questions speaking activity, students form, ask and answer quiz questions beginning with 'How...?' First, in two groups, students look at quiz answers and write a 'How...?' question for each one. Next, students pair up with someone from the other group. Students then ask the quiz questions and read the multiple-choice answers to their partner who guesses each answer. After that, in their pairs, students create four multiple-choice quiz questions of their own starting with 'How..?' Next, each student finds a new partner and asks them the questions. Finally, students ask their quiz questions to the class for them to answer. show less

ESL How Much How Many Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Quiz, Forming, Asking and Answering Questions, Guessing - Pair Work In this useful How much and How many speaking activity, students take part in a quiz where they form, ask and answer 'How much' and 'How many' questions. In two groups, students read answers on the worksheet and write a 'How much' or 'How many' quiz question for each one. Working alone, students then guess the answer to each question and write the number in the answer. Next, students pair up with someone from the other group and take turns asking the quiz questions to their partner who replies using the answer key on their worksheet. For each correct guess, students score one point. The student with the most points wins. show less

ESL Question Words Game - Grammar and Speaking: Matching, Asking and Answering Questions - Group Work In this imaginative question words game, students match question words to endings and ask the questions to other students. In groups, students take turns picking up a question word card and trying to match it with one of their ending cards to make a question. If a student is able to make a suitable question, they lay the two cards on the table and ask the question to the other students in the group. After the question has been discussed, the two cards are removed from the game. If a question cannot be made, the question word card is placed at the bottom of the pile, and the next student takes their turn. The first student to get rid of all their ending cards wins the game. show less

ESL Question Words Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Matching, Gap-fill, Reading a Role-Play, Writing Questions This comprehensive question words worksheet helps students practice or review question words and Wh questions. Students start by matching each question word with its usage. Next, students complete a dialogue with the question words and then role-play the conversation with a partner. After that, students use prompts to make questions and then match each question to the correct answer. Lastly, students write questions that elicit a set of answers. show less

ESL Yes/No Question Words Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Completing, Asking and Answering Questions, Controlled and Freer Practice - Group and Pair Work In this enjoyable yes/no question words activity, students practice completing, asking and answering yes/no conversation questions that begin with are, do, were, has, will, would, should, and can. First, in two groups, students complete the first conversation question in each pair with a word from a box and the second question with a suitable yes/no question word. Next, students pair up with someone from the other group and take turns asking and answering the yes/no conversation questions with their partner and developing a short conversation about the topic by giving more information and asking follow-up questions. Afterwards, students share what they found out about their partner with the class. show less