Present Simple- Time Expressions

Time expressions with Present Simple speaking games and grammar presentation
Part One: Finding things in common time expressions with Present Simple game
Choose cards from the pack that you are given and try to make true statements about
yourself that are true for at least one other person in your group. For example, if you say “I
always eat sandwiches for lunch” and someone says “Me too!”, you can take the “always”
card and score one point. If you can combine two cards with sentences that other people
agree with like “I almost always brush my teeth in the morning”, you can get two points. If
they have the opposite reaction (e.g. “Really? I never do” or “Not me, I do three times a
day”), you have to put the card back and play passes to the next person. The person who
has the most cards at the end of the game wins.

Part Two: Grammar presentation
After you finish the game, put all the cards back together and divide them into ones which
are answers to “How often…?” and ones which are answers to “When…?”

Divide the “How often…?” cards into two groups and put each group into order by how
often they mean.

Divide the “When…?” cards by the prepositions that they take – “on” or “in”.

Check all those things with the next page.

What kinds of words go with each of those prepositions?

Which preposition goes with each of these?
seasons
months
dates
days
parts of the day

What do the different things that go with the same preposition have in common with each
other?

Why do days and dates have the same preposition?

Why do seasons and months have the same preposition?

Why do those two groups take different prepositions? How are they different from each
other?

Part Three: General statements with time expressions and Present Simple
Try to make statements starting with “Most people in my country…” and both a frequency
expression and another time expression that your partner agrees with such as “Most
people in my country usually take a bath in the evening”.

Hints for grammar presentation: There is the same number of each card.

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2015

Cards to cut up/ Suggested answers
Cut off the small cards with bold text in them before cutting up and giving out the cards.

Answers to “How often…?”

Answers to “When…?”

In…

Always

the morning

Almost always

the evening on Sunday

Usually/ Generally

(the) spring

Often

(the) summer

Sometimes

(the) autumn (= fall)

Rarely/ Seldom

January

Very rarely

February

Almost never

July

Never

August

Three times a day

December

On…

Twice a day

Friday(s)

Three times a week

Saturday(s)

Twice a week

Sunday(s)

Once a week

Monday morning(s)

Three times a month

Sunday afternoon(s)

Once every two weeks

The first of May

Once a month

Valentine’s Day

Once every three months

Xmas Eve

Three times a year

Xmas Day

Once every two or three years

New Year’s Eve

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2015