Verb-Noun Collocations ESL Games, Activities and Worksheets
In this verb-noun collocations game, students play dominoes by making present simple sentences with have, take and go collocations. The first player makes a verb-noun collocation by placing one of their dominoes at either end of the domino on the table. If the player successfully makes a verb-noun collocation, they say a true present simple sentence with the collocation, e.g. 'I have a shower every morning'. The other group members judge the player's sentence. If the sentence is grammatically correct, the student leaves the domino where it is. If the sentence is wrong, the player picks up the domino and keeps it. The next player then tries to put down one of their dominoes at either end of the domino chain and so on. The first player to get rid of all their dominoes wins the game.
This fun verb-noun collocations board game helps students to practice verb-noun collocations with have, take, break, do, catch and make. Students take it in turns to pick up a card and read the gap-fill sentence on the card to the other students, e.g. 'If you're sick, you should BLANK some medicine'. The other students then race to repeat the sentence back to the reader, adding in the correct verb to complete the verb-noun collocation in the sentence. The first student to complete the sentence correctly wins. The winner then rolls the dice and moves their counter along the board accordingly. The first student to reach the finish wins the game.
In this verb-noun collocations game, students complete verb-noun collocations in sentences and then guess which sentences are true for their partner. Working alone, students complete the verb-noun collocation in each sentence on their worksheet with a verb in its correct form. Students then put a tick next to the sentences that are true for them. Next, students take turns reading their sentences to their partner who guesses if they are true or not. For each correct guess their partner makes, students put a tick in the last column. The student with the most correct guesses at the end wins.
In this free verb-noun collocations game, students play bingo by listening to gap-fill sentences and matching verbs with collocating nouns in sentences. Read a sentence at random from the caller's sheet, saying the word 'blank' for the missing collocating verb. Students listen and look at the verbs on their bingo cards to see if they have a verb that completes the verb-noun collocation in the sentence. If they do, they cross it off. The game continues until a student has crossed off three verbs in a row. When this happens, the student shouts 'Bingo!' and reads out the verbs they crossed off. If they match the sentences that were ticked on the caller's sheet, the student wins the round. Students then start a new round or continue to see who can cross off all nine verbs. Play several rounds, making sure students receive a different bingo card each time. If you have a large class or you want to give the students more practice with verb-noun collocations, have the students play the game in groups of six with students taking it in turns to be the bingo caller.
This creative verb-noun collocations game helps students practice using a variety of different nouns with transitive verbs. Begin by assigning the class a transitive verb, e.g. play. In teams, students choose two nouns that can be used with the verb to make a collocation, such as 'play the trombone' and 'play snooker'. Teams should try to think of nouns that they think other teams won't choose. Teams then write a sentence that illustrates each verb-noun collocation, e.g. 'I play the trombone in the school band'. Teams score one point for each grammatically correct sentence that includes a unique noun that no other team has used. In other words, if two teams use 'play football', those teams don't score a point for that sentence. Play several rounds using a different transitive verb each time. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
In this verb-noun collocations activity, students complete verb-noun collocations in sentences with verbs and then place bets on their answers. To start, students complete verb-noun collocations in sentences with the verbs provided in their correct forms. Students then bet between 1 to 5 points depending on how sure they are of their answers. 5 is very sure and 1 is not very sure. Next, elicit the correct answers from the students. For each correct answer, students put a tick and write the number they bet in the 'points' column. For each incorrect answer, students put a cross. In the 'points' column, they write a minus sign with the number they bet. Finally, students add up their points. The student with the most points is the winner.
This verb-noun collocations worksheet helps students practice verb-noun collocations with get, break, catch, do, take, waste, pay, say, lose, keep, make, have, give, tell and save. To start, students match nouns to verbs with which they are usually collocated. Next, students complete sentences using the nouns. After that, students complete sentences with the verbs in their correct form. Students then match sentence halves to make sentences, adding a suitable verb in the correct form to each one. Lastly, students complete sentences with verb-noun collocations from the first exercise.
