With these six conversation-based gerunds & infinitives activities, you can give your adult ESL grammar students the communicative practice they need to use gerunds and infinitives naturally, not just correctly. This resource is designed for high beginner to low intermediate levels.

By the time students reach gerunds and infinitives, something has changed. They have enough vocabulary and grammatical intuition that conversation begins to really flow. You can set up an activity, step back, and listen, really listen, as students start making their own choices about language, asking each other real questions, and laughing at each other's guesses. 

Whether your students are building skills for university coursework, professional environments, daily life, or all of the above, this resource meets them where they are.

WHAT'S INSIDE this 13-page PDF:

• ✅ Ask & Answer: Students tackle thought-provoking questions using gerunds and infinitives, sparking the kind of discussion that deepens understanding.
• ✅ Wait, What?: Partners work through exercises that highlight the subtle meaning shifts between gerunds and infinitives; includes an answer key.
• ✅ Meet Me!: Students share snippets of their own lives while practicing gerunds and infinitives, whether in pairs or small groups.
• ✅ Find Someone Who : … a mingle activity that gets students moving and interacting while reinforcing the target grammar
• ✅ Take a Guess! : Students create sentences about their partners and then find out how close they were. (laughter optional but likely)
• ✅ Let's Talk! : Students share opinions, create stories, and take center stage in pairs or small groups.

HOW TO USE THESE ACTIVITIES:

Run the activities in order for a full lesson arc or pull individual activities to supplement what you're already teaching. Ask & Answer and Let's Talk! work well as warmups or conversation extensions. Wait, What? is a natural fit when you want to slow things down and focus on precision. Mix and match based on what your class needs that day.

Most activities work in pairs or small groups, so you can have multiple conversations happening at once without needing to manage every one of them. That's the beauty of this level. You provide the structure, and students do the rest.

WHY THIS WORKS FOR ADULT ESL STUDENTS

Adult ESL students at this level are ready to use grammar, not just study it. These activities give them real reasons to speak, listen, read, and respond, all in the same class period. They all benefit from grammar practice that feels like communication rather than exercise.

These activities also work well with secondary ESL students and secondary native English-speaking students who have gaps in their grammar knowledge.