🗣️ Present Simple Speaking Cards: Daily Routine Questions
Level: A1 | Activity Type: Pair work, Group discussion
🎲 How to Play
Cut out the cards. Students take turns picking a card and answering the question using the present simple. Try to give full sentences, not just one word! For example, if the card asks “Do you drink coffee?” you can answer: “Yes, I drink coffee every morning.” or “No, I don’t drink coffee. I prefer tea.”
Card: “What time do you wake up?”
Answer: “I wake up at 7 AM.”
💡 Teacher Tip: For a more dynamic class, ask students to give one true answer and one false answer. Their partner must guess which is true!
What time do you wake up?
What do you eat for breakfast?
Do you drink coffee or tea?
How do you get to work/school?
What time do you start work/school?
What do you do in your free time?
What time do you eat dinner?
What do you do in the evening?
🃏 More Speaking Cards – Set 2: Habits & Frequency
How often do you exercise?
Do you watch TV before going to bed?
What time do you usually go to sleep?
Do you play any musical instrument?
How many hours do you spend on your phone every day?
Do you meet your friends on weekdays?
Do you help with housework? What do you do?
What do you usually do on Saturday morning?
🌙 Evening & Relaxation Routines – Set 3
Do you read a book before sleeping?
What time do you prepare your bag for the next day?
Do you take a shower in the morning or in the evening?
Do you check social media first thing in the morning?
👪 Family & Daily Routines – Set 4
What time does your mother/father wake up?
Does your family eat dinner together?
Do you have a pet? Who takes care of it?
Do you take a nap after lunch?
📘 Grammar Refresher: Present Simple for Daily Routines
The present simple tense is used to talk about habits, routines, and general truths. With daily routine questions, we often use adverbs of frequency: always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never.
• Positive: I/You/We/They + verb → “I wake up at 7.”
• Positive: He/She/It + verb + -s/-es → “She wakes up at 7.”
• Negative: do/does + not + base verb → “I don’t drink coffee.” / “She doesn’t eat meat.”
• Question: Do/Does + subject + base verb → “Do you like tea?” / “Does he work on Sundays?”
⚠️ Remember: For verbs ending in -ch, -sh, -s, -x, -o, add -es (watches, washes, goes). For verbs ending in consonant + y, change y to i and add -es (studies, cries).
💬 Sample Answers for All Cards
Morning Routine Cards:
• “What time do you wake up?” → I wake up at 6:30 AM on weekdays and at 9 AM on weekends.
• “What do you eat for breakfast?” → I usually eat cereal with milk and a banana.
• “Do you drink coffee or tea?” → I drink coffee every morning, but sometimes I have green tea.
Daily Activities:
• “How do you get to work/school?” → I go by bus, and then I walk for five minutes.
• “What time do you start work/school?” → My classes start at 8:15 AM.
• “What do you do in your free time?” → I play video games or go out with friends.
Evening Routine:
• “What time do you eat dinner?” → We have dinner at 7:30 PM.
• “What do you do in the evening?” → I do my homework, then I watch Netflix for one hour.
Habits & Frequency:
• “How often do you exercise?” → I go to the gym three times a week.
• “Do you watch TV before going to bed?” → Yes, I usually watch one episode of a series.
🧩 Classroom Activities & Extensions
Students walk around and ask each other questions like “Do you wake up before 7 AM?” The first student to get five signatures wins.
2. Two Truths and a Lie (Present Simple Edition)
Each student says three sentences about their routine: two true, one false. Example: “I drink coffee. I wake up at 5 AM. I walk to school.” Group guesses the lie.
3. Interview a Partner & Report to Class
Students interview a partner using 5 cards, then report to the class: “Ahmed wakes up at 7, but he doesn’t eat breakfast. He takes the bus to school.”
4. Error Correction Race
Write incorrect sentences on the board: “She go to school by car.” Students race to correct: “She goes to school by car.” Great for grammar awareness.
❓ FAQ: Present Simple & Daily Routines
Q: When do we add -es to the verb?
A: For verbs ending in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -o: watch → watches, go → goes, fix → fixes, brush → brushes.
Q: Is it correct to say “He always arrive late”?
A: No, because with “he/she/it” we need an -s: “He always arrives late.” Remember the third person -s!
Q: How do I make negative sentences?
A: Use do not (don’t) or does not (doesn’t) + base verb. For he/she/it: “She doesn’t like coffee.” No -s on the main verb.
Q: What is the difference between present simple and present continuous?
A: Present simple = routines and facts. Present continuous = actions happening now or around now. “I usually drink tea” (routine) vs “I am drinking tea now” (right now).
🚫 Common Mistakes & How to Fix Them
• ❌ “He don’t like vegetables.” → ✅ “He doesn’t like vegetables.” (Use doesn’t for third person)
• ❌ “What time you wake up?” → ✅ “What time do you wake up?” (Always use do/does in questions)
• ❌ “I no drink coffee.” → ✅ “I don’t drink coffee.” (Use don’t/doesn’t, not “no”)
• ❌ “She watchs TV.” → ✅ “She watches TV.” (Add -es for verbs ending in -ch)
🎤 Pair Work Dialogue: Using the Cards
Student A: (picks card “What do you do in your free time?”) What do you do in your free time?
Student B: I usually play football with my friends after school. And you?
Student A: I love reading novels and sometimes I draw. Let me ask another card. Do you drink coffee or tea?
Student B: I drink tea every morning, but I never drink coffee because I don’t like the taste.
Student A: Nice! Now your turn to pick a card for me.
💬 Encourage students to ask follow-up questions: “Why do you like that?” “How often do you do it?” “Who do you do it with?” This extends speaking time and builds fluency.
🏆 Challenge: Ask Two “Why” Questions
After answering a card, the partner must ask two “why” questions to practice giving reasons. Example:
Card: “Do you help with housework?”
Answer: “Yes, I wash the dishes every evening.”
Why question 1: “Why do you wash the dishes in the evening?”
Answer: “Because my parents cook dinner, so I prefer to help after eating.”
Why question 2: “Why don’t you wash them in the morning?”
Answer: “Because I’m always in a hurry to go to school.”
This forces students to produce more complex sentences and use present simple naturally.
📝 Writing Follow-up: My Daily Routine Paragraph
After the speaking activity, students write a short paragraph (50–80 words) about their own daily routine using the present simple and time expressions (in the morning, after school, at night, on weekends). Example:
Teachers can then ask students to swap paragraphs and underline all the present simple verbs.
🔗 Additional Time Expressions & Signal Words
To make answers more precise, teach these common time expressions: every day, once a week, twice a month, on Mondays, in the morning, in the afternoon, at night, at the weekend, from Monday to Friday, during the week. Example: “I visit my grandmother twice a month.” “We have English class on Mondays and Wednesdays.” Using these phrases makes students sound more natural and fluent when talking about routines.
👥 Follow-up Questions
• “How often do you do that?”
• “Who do you do that with?”
• “What time exactly?”
• “Do you enjoy it? Why / why not?”
• “Is it different on weekends?”