TEACHER’S NOTES
ESL / EFL RESOURCES Verb Opposites
Activity Type Introduction
Reading, writing, This verbs teaching activity helps to increase students' knowledge
listening and speaking of verbs and their opposites.
activity, pair and group
work Procedure
Start the activity by reading out each verb on the worksheet and
Language Focus eliciting the verb's meaning from the class.
Verbs and their opposites Next, divide the students into teams of four and give each student
a copy of the worksheet.
Aim Tell the teams that you are going to read a verb at random from
the worksheet and that the first team to call out the correct
To practice verbs and
opposite verb scores a point.
their opposites.
The winning team can then score an extra point by making an
appropriate sentence with the opposite verb.
Preparation
All the students in the class then write down the opposite verb on
Make one copy of the
their worksheet.
worksheet for each
student. Answer key
lose – win laugh – cry pass – fail
Level shout – whisper give – take smile – frown
float – sink import – export arrive – leave
Elementary (A1-A2)
borrow – lend add – subtract spend – save
build – destroy enter – exit throw – catch
break – mend teach – learn sit – stand
Time
punish – reward fall – rise play – work
45 minutes go - stop come – go open – close
exercise – rest live – die leave – stay
show – hide push – pull grow - shrink
This continues until the worksheet is complete. The team with the
most points at the end of the game wins.
Working alone, the students then write ten sentences using a
different verb from the worksheet in each sentence, e.g. 'I come
to school by car'.
When the students have finished, divide them into pairs and have
the students exchange sentences. Next, the students take it in
turns to read one of their partner's sentences and then make
another sentence using the opposite verb, e.g. 'I go home at 3
o'clock'.
Afterwards, ask the pairs to create a short story using ten verbs
from the worksheet. Have the pairs read their stories to the class
and give feedback.
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VERBS
ESL / EFL RESOURCES Verb Opposites
lose ___________________ teach ____________________
shout ___________________ fall ____________________
float ___________________ come ____________________
borrow ___________________ live ____________________
build ___________________ push ____________________
break ___________________ pass ____________________
punish ___________________ smile ____________________
go ___________________ arrive ____________________
exercise ___________________ spend ____________________
show ___________________ throw ____________________
laugh ___________________ sit ____________________
give ___________________ play ____________________
import ___________________ open ____________________
add ___________________ leave ____________________
enter ___________________ grow ____________________
Teach-This.com © 2018 Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.
