One of the best games for expanding the range of students’ language. If you like anything here and want more, please support TEFLtastic. 

This is one of the chief games in an upcoming article of mine in English Teaching Professional mag on getting students to develop their range of functional language rather than just saying “I think…” “I agree” all the time. It’s a lot of cutting up, but for once well worth it I reckon.

As you can see in the examples below, the worksheets always consist of three columns that split the phrases you are presenting or practising into three parts, e.g. “I” + “really” + “think” or “It is not” + “really” + “possible”. The middle part is always an optional addition to make the phrase longer and more complex.

Students match the basic parts of the phrases, i.e. just left and right columns, first. Perhaps after brainstorming words which could go in the middle, students add the middle words to check and expand on their answers.

After they check their answers, students can test each other on the language by:

– Reading out the long version and seeing if their partner can remember the short one

– Reading out the short version and seeing if their partner can remember the long one

– Reading out the left and middle columns and seeing if their partner can complete it

– Reading out the middle and right column and seeing if their partner can complete it

– Just describing the function (e.g. “something at the same time” for storytelling) and helping their partner make phrases with that function

They can then be given communicative tasks during which they must use the language on the cards, e.g. dealing out all the cards and trying to discard them by using those phrases while brainstorming advantages and disadvantages.

Longer phrases card games PDFs

Turn taking and active listening longer phrases card games – NEW

Cambridge Proficiency reviews longer phrases card games (in this new e-book)

IELTS Speaking Part One longer phrases card games (in this bargain e-book)

IELTS Speaking Part Three longer phrases card games (in this great value e-book)

IELTS Speaking Part Two longer phrases card games (in this cheap e-book)

Body of the meeting longer phrases card games (in this very cheap e-book)

Ending meetings longer phrases card games (in this incredibly reasonable e-book)

Longer meetings phrases card games (in this perfectly priced e-book)

Starting meetings longer phrases card games (in this competitively priced e-book)

Longer IELTS Writing Task Two phrases card games (in this naively underpriced e-book)

Email closing lines longer phrases card games (in this should be more expensive e-book)

Opening emails longer phrases card games (in this cheap cheap e-book)

Body of a presentation longer phrases card games (in this cheap cheap cheap e-book)

Ending presentations longer phrases card games (in this sooooo cheap e-book)

Hooking the audience longer phrases card games (in this sooooo sooo cheap e-book)

Longer Q&A phrases card games (in this absolute bargain e-book)

Starting presentations longer phrases card game (in this incredibly good value e-book)

Longer telephoning phrases card games (in this unbeatable value e-book)

Aptis Speaking Part Three longer answers

Expanding Aptis Speaking Part One answers

IELTS Writing Part Two longer phrases card games

Leading seminars and discussions longer phrases card games

Negotiating language longer phrases games

Longer request phrases card games

Longer group brainstorming phrases games

Longer storytelling phrases card games

Advantages and disadvantages longer phrases card games

Longer advice phrases card games

Longer academic phrases card games

Longer opinion phrases card game

Longer presentations phrases card games

Longer sharing experiences phrases card games

Longer quoting sources phrases card game

As well as being a good way of showing students both specific and general ways of making their functional language higher level (vital for high scores in IELTS and Cambridge exams), it’s also great for mixed level classes as the lower level students learn the basic phrases and the higher level ones learn at least some of the longer ones.

Will add the worksheet and article I wrote for ETP after they go in the magazine. In the meantime, here are 20 more card games and loads more TEFLtastic classics.

Updated 4 March 2026