Dependent Prepositions ESL Activities, Games and Worksheets

In this fun dependent prepositions board game, students collect various prepositions in order to complete dependent prepositions in sentences. The aim of the game is to be the first player to complete all the sentences on their card correctly with dependent prepositions. Players take it in turns to roll the dice and move their counter along the board in any direction. When a player lands on a preposition square, the student looks at the sentences on their card and sees if the preposition can fit in one of the sentences. If so, the player reads the sentence to the group. If the group agrees the sentence and dependent preposition are correct, the player completes the sentence with the missing preposition. The first player to complete all their sentences correctly wins the game.

In this useful dependent prepositions game, students practice common verb-preposition collocations by playing dominoes. The first player tries to combine a verb and preposition to form a sentence or question by placing a domino down either before or after the domino on the table. If the player thinks that the verb and preposition match and the cards make a complete sentence or question, they read it to the group to show the match is correct. If the group agrees, the domino remains in place. If not, the player takes back the domino. 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.

In this free dependent prepositions speaking activity, students ask and answer questions that contain dependent prepositions with verbs and adjectives. Students start by completing questions on the worksheet with prepositions that they think match with the verbs and adjectives. Next, students write down their own answers to the questions on the worksheet. Students then walk around the class, asking and answering the questions to try to find other people with the same answers. When a student finds someone with the same answer, they write the person's name next to the corresponding question and ask follow-up questions to gain more information, noting down the answers. Finally, students give feedback to the rest of the class on what they found out.

In this engaging dependent prepositions speaking activity, students complete true sentences that contain dependent prepositions and then find out who wrote other sentences by asking yes/no questions. First, students complete sentences on cards by writing dependent prepositions and adding true information about themselves. All the students then put their sentences in a box. Next, students find out who wrote each sentence in the box by asking yes/no questions to their classmates. Students take one sentence card each from the box and go around the class asking yes/no questions to find the person who wrote the sentence on their card. When a student finds the person who wrote the sentence, they write the person's name on the card, keep it and take another one from the box. The student with the most sentences at the end is the winner.