Verbs - Past Perfect Simple - An ESL/ELL Lesson Plan

The past perfect simple is a complex verb tense that usually intimidates new English learners. We often don’t see this tense until we reach intermediate levels of any given ESL course. However, it’s used frequently in everyday life. In this post, we’ll talk about the past perfect simple, when it’s used and when teachers should start teaching it. As well, we’ll show you a simple, easy-to-follow lesson plan that teachers can use to introduce the past perfect simple. Teaching this complex tense has never been easier!

This lesson plan is an introductory lesson plan to the past perfect tense. In it, teachers will find clear explanations and plenty of opportunities for students to practice. Teachers can expect gap fill, sentence matching, and sentence starter exercises. The lesson begins with simple explanations of the tense and gets progressively more challenging, allowing students to really test their understanding.

Before teaching the past perfect tense, make sure your students are very comfortable with past participles. Past participles can be a real challenge for ESL students, so consider reviewing them with your students before beginning this lesson. Learning the past perfect doesn’t have to be scary, as long as students have the correct tools in their kit.

If you found this lesson plan helpful, you’ll find the other lesson plans in the Off2Class ESL Lesson Library helpful too! Off2Class has been creating and offering lesson plans since 2015. Off2Class has done all of the hard work - now you can spend less time planning and more time teaching!

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