The Grammar

Activity Book
Bob Obee
PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
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CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
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© Cambridge University Press, 1999
The pages in this book marked ‘From The Grammar Activity Book by Bob Obee © Cambridge University Press
1999 P H O T O C O P I A B L E ’ may be photocopied free of charge for classroom use by the purchasing
individual or institution. This permission to copy does not extend to branches or additional schools of an
institution. All other copying is subject to permission from the publisher.
First published 1999
Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge
ISBN 0 521 575796
The Grammar Activity Book
Map of the book
KEY : E=ELEMENTARY; P=PRE-INTERMEDIATE; I=INTERMEDIATE; U=UPPER-INTERMEDIATE
Activity title Language focus Level Time Page
(minutes)
Introduction 6
Unit 1 Time like the present
1.1 Global animal bingo Present simple/questions E–P 20 8
1.2 Wildlife whoppers Present simple: facts I–U 25 10
1.3 Adverb backgammon Time adverbs/simple/continuous I–U 25 12
1.4 Behind the screen Present simple/continuous E 20 14

Unit 2 Questions and answers

2.1 So what’s the question? Phrasing of common questions P–I 30 15
2.2 Sporting chances Present continuous questions P–U 25 18
2.3 Do card quiz Subject questions P–I 40 20
2.4 Zig-zag questions Appropriate short answers P 25 22

Unit 3 Talking about things past

3.1 Round about when Time adverbs: simple past P–I 20 24
3.2 Joke go-betweens Simple past questions I 25 26
3.3 Last week’s news Simple past/past continuous P–U 30 28
3.4 Past identities Past continuous: background detail P–I 30 29

Unit 4 Making comparisons

4.1 Line up accordingly Comparative adjectives/adverbs P 25 30
4.2 Psychic partners Superlative adjectives/adverbs I 30 32
4.3 Comparative short straws Degrees of comparison U 20 34
4.4 Ratio roulette Degrees of comparison I 20 36

Unit 5 Describing things

5.1 Sort yourselves out Adverbs: word order E–U 25 37
5.2 Four-card adjectives Order of adjectives P–I 25 38
5.3 Collocation bridges Adjective/noun collocation I–U 15–20 40
5.4 Square routes Use of adjectives/adverbs P–I 25 42

Unit 6 Looking to the future

6.1 Arrangement squares Present continuous (future) P 20 44
6.2 Pantomime fish Use of will P–I 25 46
6.3 Collecting evidence Be going to (present evidence) P 25 48
6.4 Dedication poem Conjunctions/use of will I–U 25 50

Unit 7 Using the perfect

7.1 Point in a story Present perfect simple (just/already/yet) P–I 20 51
7.2 Record-breakers Present perfect simple (unspecified past time) P–I 20 52
7.3 What have you done! Present perfect simple (present result) P 20 56
7.4 Jigsaw mischief Present perfect continuous (present effect) I–U 30 58
7.5 Adverb rummy Present perfect simple/continuous/past simple I–U 20 60
Activity title Language focus Level Time Page
(minutes)
Unit 8 Things we can count
8.1 Determiner dominoes Use of determiners P–U 25 62
8.2 Pieces of me Partitive nouns I–U 25 64
8.3 Building captions Use of the/zero article I 25 66
8.4 Open ‘the’ doors Use of zero article with certain classes of nouns I–U 10–15 68

Unit 9 Conditional meanings

9.1 Homophone healing zero conditional I 30 70
9.2 Blanks and brackets First conditional (if/will/in case) I 20 72
9.3 Seeking scruples Second conditional I 35 74
9.4 Memory consequences Third conditional I–U 20 76

Unit 10 Obligation and possibility

10.1 Headline investment Must/can’t/might/could (possibility) I 25 78
10.2 Streetwise surveys Must/mustn’t/have to … (obligation) P–I 30 80
10.3 Royal behaviour Must have/couldn’t have (past speculation) I–U 20 82
10.4 Rules and lines Must/mustn’t/have to (obligation) I 25 84

Unit 11 Indicating time, movement and place

11.1 Last card wins Prepositional phrases: time place manner P–I 25 86
11.2 Opposite moves Verbs of movement (prepositions) U 25 88
11.3 Time pieces In at on (time) P–I 25 90
11.4 Preposition chequers In at on (place) P–I 25 92

Unit 12 Using the passive

12.1 Signs of the passive Use of passive in signs/different tenses I 25 95
12.2 Whose house? Simple past/past perfect passive U 30 98
12.3 A causative day out Causative structure: have things done U 25 100
12.4 Fairytale jigsaw races Simple past passive by + agent I–U 30 102

Unit 13 Functional exchanges

13.1 Answer keys Short exchanges P–I 25 104
13.2 On the floor debate Common discussion markers I–U 30 106
13.3 Conversation pyramids Short answers and follow-ups P–I 15–20 108
13.4 Answer hopping So/neither responses/tag questions E–P 25 110

Unit 14 What someone said

14.1 Beyond belief You said/told me that … I 25 112
14.2 No more than seven words Sentence patterns after reporting verbs I–U 30 114
14.3 Connecting speech Contrasts between say, tell, speak, talk I–U 25 116
14.4 Who asked you … Reported questions I–U 30 119

Unit 15 Revision games

15.1 Slide rules Various structures I–U 25 120
15.2 Tense squares Revision of tenses P–U 20 122
15.3 Throw-out puzzles Various structures P 30 124
15.4 Sole mates Various structures E–I 35 126
 unit 1 Time like the present

1 1.1 Global animal

Level
elementary –
pre-intermediate

Class size
bingo
Before class
Make one copy of one Bingo card (p.9) for each learner or each pair
of learners, depending on the size of the class.

In class
1 Explain to learners that they are going to play a game like bingo, which is
popular throughout the English-speaking world. The game here, however, also
involves learners asking questions. If bingo, or an equivalent, is played in your
country, you can tell learners about it.
2 Give each learner a Bingo card. On it there is a grid of phrases. Beneath the
grid is a sentence about an animal and three pieces of information about that
animal: what it has/has got, eats, likes doing, or where or how long it lives.
whole class During the game, each learner will assume the identity of the animal on
his/her card.
Language focus
present simple Have … got 3 The aim of the game is to be the first learner to cross off all the phrases on
questions about facts and his/her Bingo card and tell the class which animal each phrase referred to.
habitual actions 4 During the game, each ‘animal’ must introduce himself/herself. However, it is
very important that learners do not reveal any other details about the animal.
Pronunciation
On introduction, other learners in the class should pose questions to the
weak forms: do you /dju/
animal, based on phrases in their Bingo cards. For example, for the African
you /j´/
elephant, the following is written:
Preparation time Hello, I’m an African elephant: I have a small tail, I eat leaves and I’ve got
5 minutes relatives in India.
The learner introducing himself/herself says: Hello, I’m an African elephant …
Game time The other learners then scan their Bingo cards for any phrases that might
20 minutes
relate to the African elephant, and ask the elephant any questions that the
phrases suggest.

1 long grass leaves seals

sitting
A learner with these bingo squares thus might
bamboo sealsask: Do you eat leaves?
down
The African elephant answers: Yes, I do. (This is a detail on the card.)
BINGO

and all the learners who have this bingo square can cross it off.
Anotherlong
learner with these
grass same bingo squares
dancing queenmight ask: Do you eat
long grass?
The African elephant answers: No, I don’t (because this is not a detail in
front of him/her).
After a question from three or four different learners, move on to another
learner, who introduces himself/herself: Hello, I’m a polar bear, and so on.
5 If there is more than one African elephant etc. in the class, this simply
means that learners may ask the African elephant questions again.
8
 1.1 Global animal bingo
Bingo cards

✂
1 under small 2 relatives
grass Romania leaves
ice tail in India

sitting bamboo seals holiday queen group

down
BINGO

BINGO
longer than
long grass dancing queen zebras fish people
Hello, I’m a pelican: I live in Romania, I eat fish and Hello, I’m an African elephant: I have a small tail.
I like going on holiday. I eat leaves and I’ve got relatives in India.
✂
3 China holiday longer than 4 grass dancing under ice
people

Romania long sleep seals flowers small birds long sleep

BINGO

BINGO

yellow and white

leaves fish zebras leaves
brown relatives
Hello, I’m a bee: I have a queen, I like dancing Hello, I’m a giant panda: I live in China, I eat
and I like flowers. bamboo and I like sitting down.
✂
5 long grass 6 relatives
holiday bamboo under ice China in India

sitting
leaves small tail group small tail long sleep
down
BINGO

BINGO

white longer than

grass small birds flowers group
relatives people
Hello, I’m a polar bear: I like swimming under ice, Hello, I’m a rhinoceros: I eat grass, I have white
I eat seals and I like a long sleep. relatives and I like small birds on my back.
✂
7 zebras long grass under ice 8 long grass dancing Romania

small sitting long neck relatives in

fish grass
birds down India
BINGO

BINGO

relatives yellow and small birds

China queen seals
in India brown
Hello, I’m a tortoise: I live longer than people, Hello, I’m a lion: I live in a group, I like long grass
I have a yellow and brown shell and a long neck. and I eat zebras.
From The Grammar Activity Book by Bob Obee © Cambridge University Press 1999 PHOTOCOPIABLE 9
 unit 11 Indicating time, movement and place

11 11.2 Opposite moves

Level
upper-intermediate

Class size
groups of three (or six)
Before class
Make one set of the Sentence cards and one set of the Opposite cards (p.89)
for each group of three learners (six learners if the game is played in pairs).
On the back of the Sentence cards write the verb + preposition opposite the
highlighted phrase in the sentence (key below).

In class
1 This game is a simple card game based on matching opposites.
2 Divide the class into groups of three (six if the game is to be played in pairs).
3 Give each group one set of both the Sentence cards and Opposite cards and
ask one of the three players to deal an equal number of Opposite cards face-
down to each player. Tell players to pick up their cards and conceal them from
Language focus other players. When this has been done, place a set of the Sentence cards in
prepositions the middle of each group, with the sentence on the first card showing. All the
complementing verbs of sentence cards should be in a pack sentence-side up, i.e. so the opposite
movement phrase is hidden.

Pronunciation 4 Ask one player in the group to write the name of each player on a piece
of paper.
weak forms: at /´t/ to /t´/
into /Int´/ of /´v/ Nominate one player to start. He/she picks up the Sentence card and places it
in the middle of the group. This player then has the first option to lay down an
Preparation time Opposite card from his/her hand, i.e. a card which he/she believes corresponds
10 minutes to the ‘opposite’ phrase written on the back of the Sentence card. The two
other players can then also lay down an Opposite card if they wish. The
Game time Sentence card is then turned over.
25 minutes
The person who has put down the correct Opposite card is the winner of the
round. He/she keeps the Sentence card. If no-one is correct, the sentence is
simply put at the bottom of the pack.
If a player puts down a card which is incorrect, he/she has an ‘X’ written
against his/her name on the piece of paper.
Players take back their Opposite cards each time.
The game continues with a different player starting each round.
5 The game ends when either all the Sentence cards have been used or when
one player has three Xs against his or her name. The winner of the game is the
player with the most Sentence cards at the end.
Key:
He left Spain on Friday. (arrived in) The train left the station on time. (arrived at)
We drove through Luxembourg. (stopped in) She got off the bus. (got on)
The cat climbed up the tree. (got down from) The train arrived at platform six. (left from)
The door was locked but we still got in. (got out) She got in her car and left. (got out of)
We boarded the plane quickly. (got off) They walked away from us. (came towards)
The train passed through two stations. (stopped at) The rabbit came out of its hole. (went into)
He arrived from Italy yesterday. (went to) He got there after we arrived. (departed)
She opened the car door and got out. (got in) They left home yesterday. (went back)
The cars went onto the ferry smoothly. (came off) We came out of the main entrance. (went in through)
She went in just before the end. (came out) Sheila went to the fridge. (moved away from)
88
 11.2 Opposite moves
Sentence cards

✂
He left Spain on The train left the We drove through She got off the bus.
Friday. station on time. Luxembourg.

✂
The cat climbed up The train arrived at The door was locked She got in her car
the tree. platform six. but we still got in. and left.

✂
We boarded the plane They walked away The train passed The rabbit came out
quickly. from us. through two stations. of its hole.

✂
He arrived from Italy He got there after She opened the car They left home
yesterday. we arrived. door and got out. yesterday.

✂
The cars went onto We came out of the She went in just Sheila went to
the ferry smoothly. main entrance. before the end. the fridge.

Opposite cards
✂

arrived in arrived at stopped in got on

✂
got down from left from got out got out of

✂
got off came towards stopped at went into

✂
went to departed got in went back

✂
went in moved away
came off came out
through from

From The Grammar Activity Book by Bob Obee © Cambridge University Press 1999 PHOTOCOPIABLE 89