Verbs - Simple

Table of contents 

1. What are Verbs - Simple lessons?
2. Target students
3. Key features
4. Lesson details & links
   
   

What are Verbs - Simple lessons?

Verbs - Simple lessons focus on one of the foundations of accurate communication in English: choosing and forming the right verb to talk about time. The series introduces and practices the simple verb forms students use most often, so they can describe routines, experiences, past events, and future plans with confidence.

The lessons are carefully sequenced to help students understand both the form and the meaning of each verb structure. Each lesson builds on previous knowledge, while still being accessible as a unit of study, giving teachers the flexibility to introduce or review specific verb forms as needed. The series covers:

• To be (present and past): Using am, is, are, was, and were in positive and negative sentences, contractions, questions, and short answers
• Have and have got: Describing possession, relationships, physical features, and illnesses, including negatives, questions, and short answers (e.g., I have, she's got, do you have, have you got)
• Present simple: Talking about routines, habits, and general truths, including third-person -s, adverbs of frequency, negatives, and yes/no and information questions (e.g., she works, always, doesn't, how often)
• Past simple: Describing completed past actions with regular and irregular verbs, spelling rules, time expressions, negatives, and questions (e.g., walked, went, didn't, yesterday, ago)
• Present perfect simple: Talking about life experiences, present results, and unfinished time, and contrasting the present perfect with the past simple (e.g., have been, has seen, already, yet, just)
• Past perfect simple: Showing the earlier of two past events and sequencing past actions in narratives (e.g., had finished, by the time, when)
• Used to and would: Describing past habits, repeated actions, and past states, and contrasting them with the past continuous (e.g., used to live, didn't use to, would visit)
• Future with will and the present simple: Making predictions, decisions, offers, promises, and requests, stating future facts, and talking about scheduled events (e.g., will, won't, I think, the train leaves at)
• Future perfect simple: Describing actions that will be complete by a point in the future (e.g., will have finished, by then, by the time)

Target students

As general English lessons focused on grammar and verb forms, Verbs - Simple lessons can be used with all students who need to build accuracy with English verb tenses. The series spans the Off2Class Upper Beginner, Pre-Intermediate, and Intermediate levels (CEFR A2 to B1, WIDA 2.0 Emerging to 4.0 Expanding). Lessons on to be, have and have got, and the present simple suit students at the lower end of this range, while lessons on the present perfect, past perfect, used to, and the future perfect suit students at the upper end.

Teachers can use the lessons to introduce new verb forms, address gaps in students' spoken or written accuracy, or review previously taught tenses in a more structured way. The series is particularly useful for students who can communicate basic ideas but make frequent errors with verb forms, word order in questions, or tense choice.

Key features

All Verbs - Simple lessons feature:

1. Easy-to-follow explanations: Each verb form is introduced with clear models, example sentences, and timelines that show both how the form is built and when it is used.
2. Structured progression: Lessons move from presentation and controlled practice to freer production, and each form is taught across several lessons covering positives, negatives, questions, and short answers.
3. Focus on common errors: Error-correction activities and teacher notes target the mistakes students make most often, such as adding -s after does not or using a past form after didn't.
4. Extensive practice: Students regularly complete gap-fills, sentence rewriting, matching, unjumbling, and multiple-choice tasks to develop accuracy with form and word order.
5. Productive activities: Each lesson includes speaking and writing tasks, such as picture-based production, partner interviews, role-plays, and personal writing, that encourage meaningful use of the target verb forms in realistic contexts

Lesson details & links

The lesson name (with link) and objectives are listed below for a quick overview of each lesson. Click a lesson name to launch it directly from this article. To see a spreadsheet of all Off2Class lessons, click here.